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Hurricane Katrina - Update from Lafayette
HOW TO HELP: The best way to help is donate money. You can donate to the Red Cross or check out the United Way of Acadiana website which has 2 funds.. one that stays in the area for Acadiana evacuees and one general Katrina response fund. They would then be able to use donations to get what is most sorely needed.
Additionally, consider the new Lafayette Music Alliance set up to specifically help musicians and music business professionals which will be replacing Healthcare for Musicians (see below) and covering a broader area. For now you can direct your donations to Healthcare for Musicians which has an emergency fund account set up through SW LA Health Education Center, its sponsoring non-profit agency. The address is: Healthcare for Musicians 103 Independence Blvd. Lafayette, LA 70506.
Project HEAL was just created in Lafayette, LA to assist artists impacted by the hurricane. Project HEAL (Helping Employ Artists Locally) offers displaced artists, including those working in dance, design arts, folklife, literature, music, theatre, visual arts and media, employment opportunities in local communities. This program will quickly and directly assist those artists in immediate need of financial assistance. Project HEAL partners include Acadiana Arts Council, Louisiana Crossroads, Louisiana Folk Roots, Festival International de Louisiane, Performing Arts Society of Acadiana, Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission and Lafayette Economic Development Authority. To make a tax-deductible donation to Project HEAL, register as an artist or inquire about volunteer opportunities, please contact: Acadiana Arts Council, P.O. Box 53762 Lafayette, LA 70505 (337) 233-7060, (337) 233-7062 fax info@AcadianaArtsCouncil.org A 501(c)3 Non-profit organization EIN: 51-0138288 Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted
If you are a Registered Nurse or other medical professional, the area hospitals and triage centers are actively looking for help. The governor has signed an executive order allowing medical professionals licensed in other states to work here. One phone number to call is the Lafayette Parish Medical Society at 337-232-2860.
To find out what is happening in Lafayette, check our local newspaper (The Daily Advertiser) or TV station (KATC).
9/2/05 6:30 pm CT
Help for Musicians
From Marce Lacouture:
Healthcare for Musicians and several other organizations, including the Grammy's MusiCares program and The New Orleans Musicians Clinic, have joined to create the Lafayette Music Alliance to specifically help musicians and music business professionals.
People can send money donations to Healthcare for Musicians which has an emergency fund account set up through SW LA Health Education Center, its sponsoring non-profit agency.
The address is: Healthcare for Musicians 103 Independence Blvd. Lafayette, LA 70506
If anyone knows of any displaced musicians who need help please let them know to call Healthcare for Musicians at 337-988-1583 Through MusiCares they can get financial help for all basic needs.
9/2/05 130pm CT
Baton Rouge is now Louisiana's largest city. An AP article says the airport traffic may increase from 700,000 to over 3 million passengers per year and that many evacuees from the hurricane affected areas are there to stay.
Over 60% of people responding to poll in the Daily Advertiser says they won't move back to New Orleans, even if they could.["If your home was in New Orleans and you could choose whether to return after the city recovers from Hurricane Katrina, would you?"]
Update 9/2/05 11AM CT
Note: I have not checked out these ad hoc relief organizations. Please check them out before you decide to donate to them.
From LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival). -------------------- LEAF in Schools & Streets & Tipitina's Foundation of New Orleans team up to help find temporary homes for New Orleans artists, musicians & their families. HOW CAN YOU HELP? Be a "foster family" and offer your spare room(s) to Katrina Refugees! http://www.theleaf.com/hurricanesupport.php or email hurricanesupport@theLEAF.com with * YOUR NAME: * BEST CONTACT EMAIL OR #: * LOCATION OF HOME (City or area): * How many adults welcomed: * How many kids welcomed: * Pets welcome? If so, what kind? * Period of time available (days, weeks, months): * Any other information that would help us find a good match ( Some families are willing to sponsor kids while their parents go home to rebuild. If this applies to you please note.) With deep deep thanks & appreciation that we have a LEAF community that I know is willing to help and be there for the world of music and arts that has brought us all so much happiness. Now they need us- lets help. Thank you! Jennifer, Kerri, Leigh (LEAF) & Bill from Tipitina's
9-1-05 1130 pm CT
KATC-TV reports that the Cajun Dome in Lafayette is now filled to capacity with 7000 evacuees and that all hotels in the Lafayette area are filled for the next 2 months. If you are planning to visit this area for a "fun" event, please try to make arrangements to stay with friends and leave your hotel rooms for those who have nowhere else to go.
And for those of you who have emailed me, I do not have any information about Festival Acadians (I assume it will go on) or how to donate money specifically to help one segment of the population here ...ie zydeco or Cajun musicians. The Greater Lafayette area was NOT hit by the hurricane. We are an area that the hurricane refugees are coming to for shelter and assistance. There is information on how to donate to the United Way of Acadiana or the Red Cross below.
9-1-05 3pm CT
Thanks to everyone for their emails about what's happening in Lafayette after Hurricane Katrina, how the Bay Area folks who moved here are doing, and requests to find out how they can help.
Here's a quick update:
Linda Castle and 2 other friends who recently moved here from the West
Coast (Madeline Powers, Susan Kiefer) stayed
over my house in Lafayette
the Sunday night before the storm,
expecting the worst, which never came. We had just
a light rain and some gusts of wind on Monday... not even lightning or thunder
sound effects, and lucky for us, no power outages. If
you didn't know there was a hurricane going on, you would have been
outside running errands. We played Cajun music on the back porch
Monday morning and
watched reruns of Sex and the City when the Weather channel and CNN became
too much to bear. Jim and Christy drove north of Shreveport and are fine
too. Linda has spoken to them since the storm and I believe they are back
in their home in Opelousas now. Gary Thibodeaux
and his father Larry are ok (in Lawtell) as well.
Lafayette is filled with evacuees now (over 4000), as it is one of the
closest cities to New Orleans (after Baton Rouge) that was not affected by
the storm. About a mile from my house is the Cajun Dome, which is now
serving as a refugee shelter, and Blackham Coliseum, which is serving as a
pet shelter. The local news is filled with instructions on how to have
our new temporary residents enroll their children in school
and where to go to donate water, clothing and other needed supplies to the
evacuees. Traffic in this small town is a
mess.
Almost all area lodging is booked solid for miles around. The Yambilee building location that was going to be used for the Zydeco Throwdown in Opelousas over Labor Day weekend is now being used as a refugee shelter. If you are planning to visit this area any time soon and can stay with friends and free up hotel rooms for the newly homeless that really need them, that would be a good thing.
To find out what is happening in Lafayette, check
our local newspaper (The
Daily Advertiser) or TV station (KATC).
This is a tough time and the consequences - human,
health, environmental and economic to name just a few - are just too
enormous to grasp.
As I know more, I will post updates on this website.
