logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | Mississippi: Katrina Volunteers Still at Work

Rick Cohen
April 14, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

April 12, 2010; USA Today | As public attention to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina has been superseded by other natural and manmade disasters, people may not realize that areas of the Gulf Coast are still in need of reconstruction and redevelopment and people are still living in temporary housing. In Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Lutheran Episcopal Services is still on the job. A pre-Katrina provider of literacy programs for kids and adults, Lutheran Episcopal switched its program after the hurricane to work on housing rehabilitation, funneling in volunteers from around the nation to help residents repair damaged homes and to gut and rehab others. According to a spokesperson for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, there were “several hundred” groups bringing in volunteers to help rebuild communities along Mississippi’s coast just after Katrina, but only a dozen or so are left, with Lutheran Episcopal Services leading much of the volunteer activity. The reason? The money for rebuilding is dwindling, despite the fact that there are 266 families living in Katrina-generated mobile homes and 1,132 in federally issued temporary cottages. Lutheran Episcopal Services has brought in more than 55,000 volunteers to rebuild homes in Mississippi based on the labor of one-week volunteers ranging in age from 16 to more than 80. The volunteers are still up to the work, but federal dollars pay for supervisors and building materials. To cover some of the financial shortfall, Lutheran Episcopal has started to charge volunteers $25 a day to cover their costs. This is a good example of the value of volunteers and the power of nonprofit persistence-but also the need for crucial government support, without which volunteer labor may not go as far as needed.—Rick Cohen

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Disasters and RecoveryNonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
The Time to Restructure Our Disaster Recovery System Is Now
Tanya Gulliver-Garcia
Nonprofits Must Speak Up Now to Protect COVID-19 Recovery Funds
Tim Delaney and Tiffany Gourley Carter
Katrina Provides Lessons for a Post-COVID Rebuild, If We Pay Attention
Martin Levine
Are Nonprofits Ready to Reopen? What Do We Need?
Martin Levine
Rebuilding or Relocation: Choices at the Rising Water’s Edge
Martin Levine
Testless in Seattle: Disrespect for Science Comes Home to Roost
Ruth McCambridge

Upcoming Webinars

Remaking the Economy

Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.