I haven't totally checked out this website yet, but from what I understand you can volunteer space for victims if you have it or know of someplace for them to stay...
It is a military related site. My parents have a home they are working on and we are considering offering some shelter to help.
This whole situation really has me down today. I can't even imagine losing everything I own, let alone losing family. This is truly a sad time for our country.
I live in KY so I know we can't help but my parents would let people stay here, we wouldn't let anyone strange stay at our house. You can't trust anyone these days, disaster victims or not. :/ It'd be nice if you could, though.
I have been talking with Troubled and he is taking in over 10 dogs from the disaster. They are being driven in tomorrow. His back patio will be their home until things change. He has the biggest heart. I gave my name and am awaiting phone calls for the same thing. I urge anyone that has some room to give a pet a chance.
Still Watching,
The Watcher
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Everyone knows that the double edged sword is always the weapon of choice for slaying dragons.
that was a good site to help get the word out. i went there and posted an ad to share my home with anyone in need including animals. heff i know its hard to trust sometimes, but if the situation were reversed i would pray to god that not everyone felt the way you do or i would be cold, homeless and suffering with no one to help me. and i am a good person. the bible says to do unto others as you would have done to you . this is a time when we have a chance to help our fellow americans by pulling together and helping the less fornunate.anyway we can. if that means sharing the roof over my head that god has provided for me then so be it. my door will be open.
My family freaked out when I told them that I would like to at least let a family come here and have a shower and a hot meal. They said that it was a very sweet thing to do, but my being here alone all day or just me and the kids, my mom was afraid that someone might hurt me or steal from us or hurt me AND steal from us. I live with my husband, my kids, and my 81 year old grandfather, but hubby is at work during the day. I am going to talk with my family about doing it while Joe is home from work, like on a weekend, and bring maybe a mother and a few kids. A mother and her children who have just lost their home do not seem very threatening to me, and I can more than spare a shower and a meal.
It would be nice to see some of these owners of apartment complexes and condo's open their empty units for people to relocate to. There are always empty units at these places. Maybe some of the donated funds could go to the owners of these units to help offset costs for them. I would think the Federal Government would be checking into this sort of thing. Maybe the unit owner could accept half price rent (or less) for 6 months until these people could get on their feet again (for those interested in permanent relocation). The government could pay the reduced rent costs during this time.
I think something along these lines would be most efficient for everyone involved. It is just as hard for some people to move in with you as it is for you to accept them. Everyone could/would feel uncomfortable at times living with strangers.
I would love to help people and let people stay here. If I didn't have my kids I would be more than happy to but as awful as it sounds and as much as I'd like to I can't open my home to these people. I've sent enough money to more than take care of several families for a while. I just don't understand where my money went.
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Saving just one dog won't save the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog. -Richard C. Call
I would love to share my home but there is just no room. There is barely enough for me, Brad, Kaitlyn, and Oscar. But I have tons of old clothes that I could probably donate. I do know that there are several families from New Orleans here putting there kids in our school systems. There are a lot more to come in over the holiday and come to school here.
I can easily donate clothes and stuff, not money (I don't work). We have bags of clothes that we cleaned out a few weeks ago, maybe we'll donate them to the relief fund, if there's a place nearby to take them. I just won't live with strangers, I can't trust anyone with the stuff they've been showing on the news, sounds heartless. I'd rather help animals, they are more trustworthy than humans, IMO.
Between my mother and I, we have bags upon bags of clothing to give, but from what I understand there is still no where to take it. The Red Cross won't deal with the clothing, unless I have been misinformed. I heard they don't have the man power to deal with the clothes, sorting them and passing them out. Whatever....there has to be a way!!
I don't know, I am even more upset by all of this yet today. People dying of thirst in this country is ridiculous.....no excuse for it.
i can see where people would be leary of having complete strangers in their homes. i guess what i am trying to say is. alot of what is going on down there is just a matter of basic human instinct for survival. if i was in their place and starving and watching children starving, i would do whatever it took to get food. some of the people carrying guns are only doing it to protect themselves and their families.what other protection do they have? others are looting for t.v's and stuff that are not needed items. stealing guns and shooting at innocent people. i have no sympathy for them. but if my family were starving and the only way to get food was to loot, i would be doing the same thing and so would any of you here.i cant condemn any of those that are starving and just trying to survive among the utter chaos that is going on all around them. i try not to look at people that i dont know as strangers. all of my friends were "strangers" before they became friends.
Even if there's no place right now to donate clothes, keep them earmarked for donation. Something will get set up, and the people are going to need the clothes. Don't forget about shoes and coats, if you have extra, as well as toys, games, books, and whatever else you can think of.
Last night my mom told me I could have her CD player, and I had to remind her that I no longer own any CDs.
Dehydration (not to mention post traumatic stress) affects judgment and can produce hallucinations, and the people you see on TV have been without water for days. Just something to keep in mind.
I saw one of my former students (I used to teach freshmen comp) on television. He was sitting in front of the convention center, staring off into space, no food or water in sight. He's a nice kid. I hope he gets help in time.
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"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
I don't know where everybody lives, but here I was able to find out places to donate by calling a local elementary school. Also, if you live in an area where places are being used as shelters, you can bring things like hygeine products directly to the shelter. I called one of the shelters (Lost Mountain Park) and they told me the name of the charity organization that is handling the clothing donations for them. In my area, it is MUST Ministries, but your local one will be different. They said at the shelter that they appreciate and need the clothing, but with the facility housing so many people, there is not room to sort the clothes there on the premises.
I will do some further research here. I know my mother could provide clothes for half the city!!!!! And shoes! lol
Man, I just can't get over all this.
Dusty, I am with you.
As far as inviting strangers in....I would never judge anyone for not opening up their home...it is a scary proposition. You could end up with someone that never wanted to leave or someone with serious mental issues, but the more this goes on, the more I want to bring someone in. No one deserves the misery of sitting in a football stadium with thousands of roomates. And I mean what I said, that is just how I feel, I TOTALLY respect those who would never be comfortable with it!
We live on the other side of the country or I would like to help. I am not sure about WHO I would let stay in my home but I do defintely feel that I would try to help someone with children as they are completely innocent in all of this. Poor people. I would also love to help some of the animals in the area. I feel so bad for all of them. We have been donating as well. Hopefully, our money is going to where it should.