THIS IS PAM MURTAUGH, ONE OFTHE KATRINA CORPS DIRECTORS. AN EMAIL INQUIRED WHY THE KATRINA CORPS IS PUTTING ANY ENERGY INTO “CELEBRATION CONCERTS”. HERE’S WHY:
Dear (name withheld by request)
I wish we had met when I was in NO this week…some initial thoughts:
1. Whatever site you reached about Pangaea Quest is not our group – we are not in the business of Summer Adventure Camps, and are not imagining that a week of work in NO is in any way a pre-packaged, comfortable “adventuring” experience. Quite the opposite, we’re hoping to inspire people to be prepared for the unexpected and unbelievably hard work.
2. I’m adding Keith Frohreich, another KC Director, to this conversation, as he did the spade work for our concept, having been to NO three times in the last year to gut through RHINO, and then talking with folks from many gutting org’s before we put the concept together.
3. I think you’ll find the concept to be both better and worse, from your perspective.
4. Yes, our original intent has been to accelerate the speed of gutting and clean up by bringing more people to New Orleans…beginning with Spring Break. More than that, it has been to create an opportunity for participatory citizenship. From the outside it seems the statement has been “U.S, to N.O.: DIY (Do It Yourself).” To counter this, we’d like to bring the energy of America to New Orleans. (Bono’s music video “The Saints are Coming” has also been a tipping point because it pictures what should have happened but didn’t…and we’d like to resurface the reality that it’s not too late for the US to show up for NO and Katrina-land.)
5. We have planned to be a feeder organization for existing groups, so not a competing or start-up organization…but rather, bringing a scale-up model to those already in the business of doing the work. We’d also like to, and seem to have already, re-ignited conversation and energy just by showing up.
6. As we have heard that there is already an overflow of volunteers for existing organizations, but a lack of housing, we have commited to addressing the challenge to make sure no volunteer is turned away. This week was our first week to start to address housing in a major way. We were glad, in the GNODRP meeting, that the City Council has now stated they will help fund housing for spring break volunteers. But also glad that Ray and you discussed other ways to address the issue.
7. We are a diverse team, who, in different parts of our lives, all have experience with executing against short timelines, and this is one version of that. We have lived “IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING” in many ways and places, so we believe in acting fast and making things happen. We’re working with a zero-based budget to make what can happen, happen. This is also something we have experience with, and is one way to fast-adapt to situations that arise quickly.
8. We have focused on concerts as a way of bringing all volunteers together, sparked by a group out of Memphis that puts bands together for charity events. This is an idea that has received uniform appreciation from everyone we’ve met. We have bands ready to volunteer to come down to make this happen. They are not meant to be grand affairs…more like jams for “friends and family.” The aim is to keep any volunteers as stars of the effort…
9. We’re not trying to sell anything other than participation in something our country didn’t get right in the first place. And we’re trying to build a collaborative infrastructure that will let it happen. If we bring additional focus to NO that wouldn’t have happened, or additional help to NO that wouldn’t have happened, we will feel the effort has been worthwhile. If we can help in any way to accelerate the major amount of work that remains to be done…so much the better.
So…what should be the next steps in our conversation given the above?
Best,
Pam