Support Florida PROGRESSIVE Organizations Working Together to Rebuild Florida

 

Over a dozen Florida progressive grassroots organizations are already working together to help the most vulnerable communities recover. They formed a Hurricane Irma Community Recovery Fund.

 

Can you make a tax-deductible donation right now to help Florida organizers prepare? Early donations will allow quick planning and action.

 

Donations to the Hurricane Irma Community Recovery Fund are tax deductible. If you can give $5, that's water for people who may be stranded without it. If you can afford to give $1,000, your help is needed to rebuild Florida.

 

These once-in-a-thousand-years hurricanes didn't just happen "naturally." We need to fight climate deniers on a national level. Our sister organization, the Progressive Change Institute, is doing that and giving bold progressive leaders in Congress the backing they need to go on offense. You can donate here -- donations are tax deductible.

 

These Florida groups have jointly formed the Hurricane Irma Community Recovery Fund:

 

Click here to donate.

 

 

 

 

 

Hurricane Irma: Support Frontline Communities

 

 

[This message was adapted from the Miami Workers Center.]

 

 

As Hurricane Irma barrels towards South Florida, our thoughts are with those in the path of this destructive storm, in the Caribbean and the Gulf coast. 

 

The combination of Hurricanes Harvey and then Irma, followed by active hurricanes Jose and Katia, is not only lethal, but a harbinger of the effects of unchecked industrialization with little regard for the earth’s environment. The scientific community agrees that the frequency and intensity of these ‘natural’ disasters will only increase as human caused mass pollution triggers devastating climate change.

 

As devastating as these natural disasters are, the greatest devastation is man made. In addition to the destruction of the environment which leads to these types of weather events, low-income Black and Brown communities are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, including Hurricanes such as Andrew, Katrina, Harvey and now Irma. This disproportionate impact is felt even more intensely by women, girls, femmes and LGBTQ folks in low-income Black and Brown communities, who also bear the brunt of poverty and government neglect.

 

The Miami Workers Center is committed to the safety, recovery and rebuilding of low-income communities in Miami, including Liberty City, Little Haiti, Overtown, Little Havana, without the forced displacement of our residents. We are committed to serving our communities to ensure access to water, food and basic human dignity. We are prepared to prevent the man-made disasters of politically motivated denial of resources to certain communities and the mass displacement of residents of those same communities.

 

We assert the right of low-income Black and Brown communities to lead recovery and rebuilding efforts in their own communities. Further, because solving the problem of those most oppressed also solves the problem for everyone else, we assert that rebuilding efforts must center the leadership and conditions of low-income Black and immigrant women, girls and femmes and LGBTQ folks.

 

As such, we call on allies to support organizations that shift power to low-income Black and Brown communities, not just to major organizations that deliver supplies to those communities. Allies must demand local, state and national governments prioritize the human needs of vulnerable populations and refrain from playing politics with natural disasters or using those disasters as financial opportunities for politically connected friends. 

 

We encourage Right To The City allies to support the following groups who are already organizing on the ground to coordinate recovery and response efforts that center the leadership and resilience of low-income communities of color, women, people of color. Directing resources towards empowering communities will protect our communities rights and ensure our communities dignity: 

 

1. Contribute to the Miami Workers Center to support recovery efforts in  Liberty City, Little Haiti, Overtown, Little Havana and across Miami. 

 

2. Donate to the Community Recovery Fund anchored by New Florida Majority, Dream Defenders, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Faith in Florida, Central Florida Jobs with Justice, Organize Florida, and SEIU

 

3. If you are in Florida see resources for those preparing for Hurricane Irma here, prepared by New Florida Majority. 

 

4. Text STORM17 to “90975” to be connected to local recovery, volunteer coordination and updates coordinated by the Climate Resilience Team of NFM. 

 

 

 

 

Immokalee Farmworker Relief Fund

 

Immokalee and other farmworker towns hit by Irma are facing significant housing loss. The season hasn't even fully begun and money is low. We don't know yet how this will impact when and how work begins. The community has no money to stay in hotels, and at his point people are collecting food and tents etc.. Many of the allies who have worked for years with Florida farmworkers have come together to raise funds.

 

100% of what is raised will go to farmworkers -- no overhead, no staff, no anything else. To be clear, CIW is not receiving any of this money directly nor controlling it (they want to make sure there is nothing messy in the process). It will be redirected to on the ground relief efforts that we know are providing the help the community needs right now or to purchase rebuilding materials, food, tents etc... We have people in those communities who are regularly reporting back and assisting with how to direct the funds.

 

The funds will go through the We Can't Have That Foundation! that has a solid track record of providing relief in Haiti. Thank you for considering helping out and here is the link!

 

Click here to donate.

 

 

 

 

Cathy Albisa; Executive Director

National Economic & Social Rights Initiative

90 John Street, Suite 308

New York, NY 10038

 

212-253-1710 extension 303

 

 

 

 

How to Help Florida Families

 

Just weeks after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area, it's heartbreaking to hear about Hurricane Irma and the destruction in Florida and the Caribbean. The storm has already caused significant damage, and it's far from over.

 

If you are wondering how you can help the families affected by the storm, here are some suggestions:

 

1. The Florida community is prepared to respond in a way that leaves no neighborhood behind--local groups like the New Florida Majority and SEIU Florida are encouraging folks outside Florida to donate to the Hurricane Irma Community Recovery Fund.

 

2. Islands in the Caribbean, including U.S. territories, are in desperate need of help. On islands like Barbuda, a majority of the population is now homeless.[1] To help those affected, you can give through Global Giving, as recommended by the New York Times.[2] After ensuring emergency response is covered, this fund will shift to longer term reconstruction.

 

3. You can also support women living in temporary shelters by donating to Support the Girls. They provide pads, tampons, and other feminine hygiene products, so women don't have to choose between their personal health and their next meal.

 

No amount of help is too little or too much, so please consider giving today. 

 

Thank you,

 

--Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Adam, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Audine, Shannon, Emma, Pilar, Natalie, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, and Ryan, the UltraViolet team

 

===

 

1. Nations rush to help islands devastated by Hurricane Irma, AP, September 8, 2017

 

2. How to Help Hurricane Irma Victims (and How to Avoid Scams), New York Times, September 8, 2017

 

 

 

 

Donate to Cuban Victims of Hurricane Irma!

 

 

 

 

 

Havana residents navigating the streets.

 

 

Help the Cuban people: we are accepting donations to the Center’s Lifeline Fund to help those in Cuba most affected by hurricane Irma. We will give the donations to the entity indicated to us by Cuba. Please state clearly that your donations are for this purpose with “Lifeline Fund/Irma” specified. When you send your contribution. [We are donating 10% of all CCS art sales this month to help, too.]

 

 

 

Workers massage the heads of 6 dolphins to relax them before being airlifted to Cienfuegos from Cuba’s northern coast to save them from Irma.

 

 

These photos tell the story: in the midst of Irma, people fought for their dolphins. If people had to get somewhere, they waded waist-deep in water.

 

Give what you can to help the Cuban people now. Send your donations to ccs, address below. 

 

 

 

Destruction in Cojimar, the fishing village near Havana, site of Hemingway’s novel “The Old Man and the Sea.”

 

 

Center For Cuban Studies

231 West 29TH St., Suite 401

New York NY 10001