Katrina Relief Services and Resources
Katrina Toolkit
CIVIC DISCOURSE in CRISIS: LESSONS FROM KATRINA TOOLKIT
This toolkit is an initiative produced in collaboration with Kansas State University’s Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy to provide member campuses with an easy-to-follow guide for students, student groups and student/faculty to create dialogue concerning Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects. The Toolkit offers effective methods of conducting a civic discourse public discussion and “demonstrates principles of inclusiveness, reflection, reciprocity, rationality, recognition of difference and moderation.”
This toolkit serves as an aid and guide for student groups to organize and host a public forum aimed at understanding why our civic discourse broke down during the hurricane crisis, and learn how to prevent such breakdowns from occurring again. Lessons from Katrina Toolkit, 2006
To view the toolkit click below:
"Civic Discourse in a Crisis: Lessons from Katrina Tookit"
National Campus Compact Hurricane Relief Information and Resources
Katrina Relief Efforts of KsCC Members
Garden City Community College
Garden City Community College is mobilizing to directly assist up to 250 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The community of Garden City, population 30,000, is one of at least four Kansas locations designated to receive evacuees from the Gulf Coast Region, and GCCC is working as a partner with the city and county governments, Red Cross and local public school district. The campus will serve as the registration and screening site for arriving evacuees, and students and employees are volunteering to provide services ranging from child care and recreation, to individual items such as towels and toiletries.
Fort Hays State University
Winter Break Service. (January 2-4, 2006) Twelve Tigers In Service volunteers and four Nurses Christian Fellowship members said goodbye to the normalcy of the rest of winter break and set off for New Orleans with a mission in mind: to help with the hurricane relief efforts. Three days were spent “cutting and gutting” homes in the heart of one of the cities most drastically affected by Hurricane Katrina. Before homeowners can even dream of rebuilding, their homes must first undergo the “cutting” process, which involves removing all the furniture and personal belongings that have been in the house since Katrina hit. Since the water levels rose up to the roofs of the houses, and stayed there for several days, all the items in the houses are extremely moldy, wet, and heavy. The next step- completely “gut” the houses by taking out all the walls and ceilings, leaving only the wood structures to frame the houses. After the “cutting and gutting” process is complete, the homeowners have hope for rebuilding.
Tigers In Service volunteers began the return trip home after completing the daunting task of stripping two homes. Volunteers were not only able to aid others by performing much needed physical labor while on this trip, but we also had the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from those who had escaped the hurricanes, lost friends and possessions in the tragedy, and who are now working towards the mounting goal of rebuilding. The owners saved anywhere from $6,000-12,000 of insurance money by having Tigers In Service volunteers “cut and gut” for them. While we saved a few people thousands of dollars, when we were in New Orleans, we learned that the greatest gift we gave was not the gift of physical labor, or even money; the greatest contribution we gave was hope. A bunch of college kids from Kansas caring enough to put their lives on hold to help others gives more hope to those who must live with the reality of the hurricanes than one could ever imagine. The people we encountered while in New Orleans have made permanent footprints on the hearts and lives of every volunteer who went on this relief trip. One specific image that comes to mind is that of a yard sign that was standing in the middle of all the destroyed homes, it read: “I am coming Home! I will rebuild. I am New Orleans.”
Spring Break Service. (March 18-26 2006) Twenty-three Fort Hays students set off for Port Arthur, TX to continue aiding in hurricane relief efforts. While the winter break trip involved “cutting and gutting” homes, this effort consisted of rebuilding. Through Disciples Home Missions, Tigers In Service volunteers help during the organization’s Week of Compassion effort. Student are among 100 volunteers who participated in work such as roofing houses, putting up dry wall, laying floors, moving belongings, and much more. Currently there are over 250 requests awaiting service from hurricane victims in this area. Four 7-passenger vans, with one van mainly used for cargo space left for the two day travel time in order to arrive on March 19. Five days were spent working, and volunteers will arrive back in Hays by March 26. Click here for news article
Kansas State University
Kansas State University has established a long-term partnership with New Orleans to provide relief services. Please read the articles below for more information.
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
Kansas State University Media Relations
Kansas State University Collegian
Southwestern College
Students Serve in Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort (April 14, 2006) Thirty-five Leadership Southwestern students traveled to Pascagoula, Mississippi to help with Hurricane Katrina disaster relief during their spring break.
Eastlawn United Methodist Church in Pascagoula coordinated the work and provided housing. While there, the students were involved with gutting homes, roofing, replacing installation, sheetrocking, installing wooden and ceramic flooring, scraping paint, building fence, and clearing debris. The students wrapped up their week sightseeing in New Orleans.
Director of Leadership Cheryl Rude was happy with what her students had taken from the trip.
“My students developed their ability to think critically as they wrote, discussed, and wondered about how the local people were making choice,” Rude said. “They learned lessons in ethical behavior as they reflected on whether or not insurance people feel shame; or why people try to profit off of others’ disasters. They learned lessons in leadership as they observed community members who sacrificed for the benefit of others and how local leaders continued to provide hope as the days drag on.”
Leadership Southwestern is a program focused on servant leadership. In the classroom, members learn about teams, ethics, and styles of leadership, then put into practice this knowledge through service projects. For more information about Leadership Southwestern, call (620) 229-6367.
Southwestern College is a private institution granting undergraduate and graduate degrees and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. More than 1,500 students attend classes at the main Winfield campus; professional studies sites in Winfield, Wichita, and Oklahoma City; or online at www.sckans.edu.
University of Saint Mary
The Service-Learning Center and Campus Ministry at the University of Saint Mary are co-sponsoring an Alternative Break to New Orleans to help with hurricane recovery. Sara Denny from the Service-Learning Center and Kate Faggella-Luby from Campus Ministry are coordinating the trip.
The trip is tentatively scheduled for May 14-19, and we will be working in housing through Catholic Charities. Much of the service will include removal of debris and other needed work to help the elderly, disabled, and those without financial means reoccupy their homes. The trip will also consist of a diverse group of speakers from the area and nightly reflection sessions. There will be discussions of faith, social justice, economic and political factors as well as other relevant issues. Historical information on New Orleans, as well as trips into the city of New Orleans are also being planned.
In conjunction with this trip, the University of Saint Mary will give the students a chance to earn course credit (in Theology). These students will complete a paper and presentation in addition to fully participating in all aspects of the trip.
Our offices would like to offer this opportunity to your school. We would love to have you participate in this trip with us. For each school, we have space for 5 students and 1 faculty/staff member from the sponsoring institution or organization. We will work with each leader to coordinate transportation, cost and reflection details. Also, any student that would like to take the course is welcome; however each student or institution will be responsible for figuring out how the credit will transfer. The credit will be two hours of Theology credit from the University of Saint Mary.
If you are interested in participating in this trip please contact Sara Denny in the Service-Learning Center (information below) to ask questions or sign up for the trip. The deadline for the final count of participants will be April 7th. We hope to make this a well attended trip! Thank you.
Contact Info:
Sara Denny, AmeriCorps*VISTA Service-Learning Specialist
Service-Learning Center, University of Saint Mary
Phone: 913.758.6112
Email:dennys@stmary.edu
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