Katrina Victims Need Housing
- How to list housing opportunities for families relocating to Northern
California -
For immediate release (9/09/2005)
If you or anyone you know has a house or rental unit available, preferably
for low or no rent, for victims of Hurricane Katrina, please call 510-727-9565.
Since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Eden I&R has been tracking
housing opportunities for Alameda County individuals and families. Currently
there are over 50,000 housing units being updated by Eden I&R staff
and volunteers. In order to meet an unmet need identified by the Northern
California Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD), Eden I&R
has created a separate database to track temporary, permanent and shared
housing targeted for Katrina survivors.
Eden I&R has been receiving calls on its Community Housing And Information
Network (CHAIN) phone lines from Hurricane victims and their families
who are in need of large housing units. Many people fleeing the Gulf region
are extended family members who want to remain together for emotional
and financial support. One caller, for example, was looking for housing
for three brothers, all of whom had wives and children. Eden I&R is
in the process of looking for a large house or multiple housing units
that are in close proximity to each other for this family.
If people want to share their housing with Katrina survivors, Eden I&R
is prepared to add that information to a separate housing database as
well. Based on information provided by social service workers in the Gulf
region, there are advisements that people being relocated could experience
post traumatic stress symptoms; and there is no way of verifying the victims’
backgrounds.
Important Eden I&R phone numbers:
To Offer Housing: 510-727-9565 (Housing Dept, Monday thru Friday 9am-5pm)
To Receive Services: 510-537-2552 (CHAIN, Monday thru Friday 10am-4pm)
To Volunteer to Help: 510-537-2710 (Administration, Mon thru Fri 8:30am-5pm)
For further information, call Barbara Bernstein, Eden I&R Executive
Director, 510-537-2710.
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