Why was There a FEMA Trailer parked at Tides?
Through 21st Century Foundation (a grantee of Tides Relief and Reconstruction Fund), Tides Foundation is part of the Gulf South Allied Funders, a group of committed donors moving resources to grassroots groups in the Gulf Coast Region. On behalf of this group, Jason Sanders played the role of key convener and host for this Tides briefing that was designed to:
- Inform current and potential donors about the challenges and opportunities of rebuilding along the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast for the long-haul;
- Give attendees a clearer sense of approaches that are working and strategies that are needed;
- And feel inspired to pledge to rebuilding efforts thru 21st Century, and/or Tides R&R Fund.
The briefing moderator was:
Donna Edwards, Executive Director, Arca Foundation
(Donna is running for a US Congressional seat for Maryland too.)
The activist panel included:
Derrick Evans, Turkey Creek Community Initiative (JBL Awardee);
Derrick Johnson, NAACP of Mississippi;
Judith Browne-Dianis, Advancement Project;
Steve Bradbury, Louisiana ACORN;
Patricia Jones, Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (LNWNENA) .
Participants also viewed a video clip from Spike Lee’s documentary, When the Levees Broke.
The briefing preceded an awards dinner honoring community heroes rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Jason reported that, “Both the donor briefing and awards dinner were great successes and folks walked away sober, fully engaged and excited about partnering opportunities.”
So…why WAS there a FEMA trailer in front of Tides?
One of the activists brought this trailer — the kind that folks are still living in on the Gulf Coast — for our viewing. For those of you who missed the chance to walk through, here are some pictures taken by Courtney McFall. This only begins to provide a real sense of the serious hardship still being faced by so many survivors of Hurricane Katrina two years ago (in 2005).