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Artful Dodger · Sep 5, 2005, 07:35 PM

My New Orleans Evacuee, dude named Paul, arrived about an hour ago. I have given him my whole basement, which includes:

Two bedrooms (in case any of his relatives need help, there is an extra space), each consisting of 1 king size bed.
Huge Widescreen rear projection TV with DVD player and any channel he could ever want.
Hundreds of CDs and DVDs
Full Service Bar, fully supplied
A bunch of sofas scattered about
Kitchen with dishwsher and fridge. Food and spring water fully supplied.
Bathroom with jacuzzi
Washer Dryer
An ibook
Grand Piano
I got the manager at my gym to hook me up with a guest pass with no expiration date, so he can work out anytime

He is having trouble accessing his money so, I'm also giving a stipened every week to get him back on his feet and I am agressively looking for a job for him. He was an optician in New Orleans. I will be taking him to Morton's for a steak in 30 mins.

Feels good to help. He is pysched.

tooki · Sep 5, 2005, 07:46 PM

I wish I had the resources to help. I have a 1BR apartment, and I'm a student so I don't exactly have a ton of spare income. :/

tooki

Face Ache · Sep 5, 2005, 07:50 PM

Glad you're giving him exercise and fresh air. It's cruel to keep them locked up.

Only kiddin'. Good on ya.

jonasmac · Sep 5, 2005, 08:09 PM

You are going above and beyond. I only wish we all had those kind of resources.

How long do you think you'll house him?

ghporter · Sep 5, 2005, 08:34 PM

My wife, who is a nurse, is going to sign up at her hospital to volunteer at the shelter they set up at KellyUSA (the "business and industrial park" they made out of the parts of Kelly AFB that the Air Force didn't keep when the base was closed by BRAC). There are a number of large buildings there, but one in particular has been set up as the shelter.

As for me, I haven't found any call for retired, slightly disabled guys who are available at weird times because of college classes. Not yet. I'm still looking.

driven · Sep 5, 2005, 08:39 PM

I have an extra room that could easilly house a couple or a small family.

How would I go about getting the room and the needy persons linked up?

KeriVit · Sep 5, 2005, 08:41 PM

Good job. Hope it works out.

Stradlater · 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by driven

I have an extra room that could easilly house a couple or a small family.

How would I go about getting the room and the needy persons linked up?

http://www.hurricanehousing.org/

They link to a bunch of other options, too, here (if you don't want to go through Move On dot Org.):
http://civic.moveon.org/katrina/housing.html

mojo2 · Sep 5, 2005, 08:48 PM

Er, uh...do you suppose you could handle ANOTHER Fugee after this one? Yours sounds like a lovely stepping stone. And before you scoff at the idea, remember this...

A good mojo is hard to find!

jk

Good for you!

driven · Sep 5, 2005, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by Stradlater

http://www.hurricanehousing.org/

They link to a bunch of other options, too, here (if you don't want to go through Move On dot Org.:
http://civic.moveon.org/katrina/housing.html

Thanks .... I just wish they were associated with someone other than moveon.org.

[EDIT] Thanks ... (DId you edit the second link in later !?!) I appreciate it! [/EDIT]

Also ... stop reading my mind. :-)

Stradlater · Sep 5, 2005, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by driven

Thanks .... I just wish they were associated with someone other than moveon.org.

Then check out the Yahoo link:

http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Earth_S...fforts/Housing

Plenty of unrelated organizations.

driven · Sep 5, 2005, 08:56 PM

Perfect .... just put my room out there. Thanks!

Artful ... best of luck to you. It's a great thing you are doing.

Stradlater · Sep 5, 2005, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by driven

Also ... stop reading my mind. :-)

They're a pretty biased organization, just wanted to provide some more comfortable avenues for all

Stradlater · Sep 5, 2005, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by driven

Perfect .... just put my room out there. Thanks!

Great! I'm glad you can help, there are a lot of people that need it right now!

Artful Dodger · 12:36 AM

Thanks for the well-wishes.

We just got back from dinner. We devoured:

Paul: Double porterhouse
Me: Filet Mignon
My GF: shrimp cocktail and ceasar salad (really sad order IMHO)
Wine: Murphy Goode Cab
Apps:creamed spinach, mushroom, lyonnaise potatoes.

This guy is hilarious. He carries around a deck of cards, apparently, at all the times. Out of the blue, he'll break out some spontaneous card tricks. Very enterttaining especially with the New Orleans accent.

What my gut is telling based on the first impression:
I can tell Paul is dedicated to getting back on his feet. He's not someone that would take advantage of anyone. Honest guy trying to make an honest living. I respect that immensely. I feel lucky to have been introduced to him. He puts things in perspective.

He knows everthing about optics and fixed my glasses. They have that snug feeling again. By the way, his cousin is alone in a shelter near Baton Rouge, so he'll probably join us.

Anyway, now that this is my reality, we'll see how it goes. I'm really optimistic that it will turn out fine

Salty · Sep 6, 2005, 12:23 AM

That's awesome. I have a lot of respect for people who will open up their homes to others. It says a lot. Actually it's probably one of the best qualities of my family's house. We regularly had people stay with us for extended periods of time when I was a kid.

Captain Obvious · Sep 6, 2005, 12:39 AM

Out of curiosity, how do they screen these displaced individuals before they allow people to board them in their homes or other facilities?

-Given that not all have IDs how do they know the people are who they say they are?

-Criminal backgrounds? Sex Offenders?

Given that these organizations are taking a very active role in helping place these people they are taking on some liability in the process. I am sure they do not want to inadvertently endanger the people who are offering up space in their homes.

Artful Dodger · Sep 6, 2005, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by driven

Perfect .... just put my room out there. Thanks!

Artful ... best of luck to you. It's a great thing you are doing.

You are AWESOME! Good Going!!

Salty · Sep 6, 2005, 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

Out of curiosity, how do they screen these displaced individuals before they allow people to board them in their homes or other facilities?

-Given that not all have IDs how do they know the people are who they say they are?

-Criminal backgrounds? Sex Offenders?

Given that these organizations are taking a very active role in helping place these people they are taking on some liability in the process. I am sure they do not want to inadvertently endanger the people who are offering up space in their homes.

My guess is that they ship off the ones they can be reasonably sure are OK first.

bstone · Sep 6, 2005, 01:16 AM

I am prolly headed down with a food/medical group that I am involved with. Next stop: Baton Rouge.

One of the people in the group just got a donation of 1 ton of rice and beans.

Salty · Sep 6, 2005, 01:24 AM

Originally Posted by bstone

I am prolly headed down with a food/medical group that I am involved with. Next stop: Baton Rouge.

One of the people in the group just got a donation of 1 ton of rice and beans.

Rice and beans? Oh for a second I was thinking like pork and beans... but uhh... never mind...

production_coordinator · Sep 6, 2005, 01:29 AM

Amazing... what a wonderful gift Artful Dodger!