People of New Orleans Fight for Voice in City's Reconstruction
Interview with Steve Bradbury, community organizer with New Orleans ACORN, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Rescue and recovery work continues on the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, with still no reliable estimate of the number who died. But officials are now pulling back from early predictions that 10,000 or more perished in the storm. Thus far Congress has allocated $60 billion in emergency funds to assist the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina
As New Orleans digs out from one of the worst natural disasters in American history, the city's residents are scattered, from Baton Rouge to Texas and points much further away. While plans are being made for the historic city's restoration, the New Orleans and Louisiana chapters of ACORN are determined to play a role in the rebuilding of the Crescent City. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low and moderate-income families. Across the U.S., the group has more than 175,000 member families, including 9,000 families in Louisiana. Among its priorities -- both before and after Hurricane Katrina-- is the construction of affordable housing and the creation of living wage jobs.
Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Steve Bradberry, the New Orleans lead organizer with ACORN, now relocated to Baton Rouge. He talks about the immediate tasks at hand, as well as longer-term concerns.
Call ACORN's national office at (202) 547-2500 or visit their website at www.acorn.org.
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