Local Gatherings Are Happening: Let's Make Them Visible Online

The mission of Mosaic is to find and connect the different kinds of people who want to organize the displaced into local groups, so that they can identify and express their own needs for themselves.

There are many efforts out there already. They come in many different forms: cultural, political, and social. Many Black churches, for example, have taken in groups of evacuees. There are organizations like ACORN that generally focus on organizing low and middle income families. The NAACP chapter in Louisiana has called for the organization of "shelter committees." Also, numerous families evacuated together before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. And there are many social gatherings turning up all over the country, either organized by evacuees or some combination of evacuees and local people who want to support them. New Orleans Network is a website that lists a number of these events.

Most of these local gatherings just happen, and many people never hear about them. Posting something about these events online, as well as who is planning and organizing such events, can begin a process of seeing more widespread local gatherings for evacuees, wherever they may happen to be. There are all sorts of ideas and successes out there that might inspire others to do something.

More than a dozen students at Dartmouth have joined my Organizations course, which started yesterday. As part of the course, they will be working together to offer organizational and other assistance to those who are setting up local gatherings for evacuees. If you would like to accept our help, please email: mosaic@dartmouth.edu