Bay Area Action Alert
Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area

Protest called for by Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area (HECBA), a network of evacuees, led by evacuees, and facilitated by the Women’s Caucus of the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and the Global Women’s Strike/SF.  HECBA meets at Calvery Baptist Church. Phone/fax 415-626-4114 email:  sf@crossroadswomen.net; mailing address: PO Box 14512,  San Francisco, CA 94114

Silent vigil Friday, November 25,
4:45 pm Gather at Larkin St Entrance to Ghirardelli Square*
(Larkin Street entrance btn Beach & North Point,  47 Van Ness bus or Powel St Cable car). 

 Join HECBA on the day after Thanksgiving as we protest the ongoing victimization of survivors of Katrina and Rita by local and federal government and other agencies. In particular we will protest the lack of housing and the continued threat of evictions of those housed in hotels and motels.  We will make public the case of a family threatened with eviction on Nov 30th.  

 Hurricane survivors in the Bay Area and across the country are suffering from: lack of housing, being shunted from room to room in hotels and motels, being threatened with eviction by FEMA on Jan 7th, denied promised city services, little or no support for elders, youth and children, no money, going hungry and more. Those trying to get services from FEMA and the Red Cross often get a runaround.

 Members of the HECBA received invitations to the tree lighting event at Ghirardelli Square.  These cards arrived just as evacuees  heard that hotel/motel housing would not be paid by FEMA from December 1, 2005; we understand that deadline is now extended to Jan 7th.  This vigil of evacuees and supporters is protesting all evictions, will make visible to the Bay Area and the whole country what their real life conditions have been like since arriving in the SF Bay Area, and will put forward evacuees’ demands (see below).  ‘We want an end to the terrorism faced by those of us who are evacuees along with our children of being homeless, hungry and without even money for transport.’  

 Let the evacuees know they have your support to demand relief and justice. Let FEMA and the Red Cross know people in the Bay Area are demanding their accountability to evacuees and will not tolerate their racism, sexism and flagrant abuses of power.

 The Hurricane Evacuee Council/Bay Area  is composed of people from the Gulf Coast region affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita)  which displaced hundreds of thousands of people now scattered across the country. According to Red Cross, California received over 14,000 evacuees. San Francisco received 600 and Alameda County 1700.

 *The arch on Larkin Street between North Point and Beach, the west end of Fisherman's Wharf, two blocks east of Van Ness Avenue and one block west of the Cable Car turnaround at Beach and Hyde Streets.

Demands of the Hurricane Evacuees Council/ Bay Area

Sign on to Support!

 November 2005

WE DEMAND REAL HOUSING

  • stop all evictions of people from hotels and other housing; stop all threats of eviction by the Red Cross, FEMA and other government bodies;

  • more resources for housing which must be provided immediately; extend the time that FEMA is paying for housing; no hierarchy based on how housing is provided(?); resources should not be distributed based on income (former or present);  permanent housing must be prioritized by FEMA, not hotels/motels; hotels, motels and trailers should be provided on a temporary basis as needed, to be replaced by permanent housing;

  • stop moving people from room to room at the hotels; housing to include basic essentials including kitchen facilities and refrigerators; people should have immediate access to decent clothing, furniture and other necessities for the home;

WE DEMAND THE INFORMATION WE NEED

  • wide circulation by all city agencies, FEMA and non-governmental organizations of what resources and services evacuees are entitled to; all evacuees and those providing services to evacuees must have copies; resource lists should include city agencies, what they are responsible for providing, a person’s name to call and emergency contact number:

  • wide distribution of a list of where to get free or discounted meals;

  • community-based networks who are providing help should have access to information of where evacuees are;

WE DEMAND HELP WITH TRANSPORTATION

  •  free of cost Muni bus and Golden Gate transit system passes, BART tickets, and Amtrak tickets for evacuees and their children;  Para-transit should be made available to anyone who needs it;

  • access to California drivers licenses;

WE DEMAND THE MONEY AND RESOURCES WE ARE ENTITLED TO

  •  in the richest country in the world, all evacuees must get at least the $4350 they were promised and entitled to (an initial $2000 per family for evacuees and then an additional  $2350 for housing costs from FEMA); no discrimination based on former or present income; many people did not get this money, others got different amounts;

  • the money from the debit cards that was taken out must be given back (the Red Cross gave people $660 in Houston TX and many people report having between $300-360 taken away from them upon arrival in San Francisco);

  • immediate access to Cal-works/welfare, food stamps, medical care and housing for all survivors;

  • legal and other services and aid must be made available to evacuees;

 WE DEMAND WORK FOR THOSE WHO WANT IT

  • everyone who can and wants to should have the opportunity to have a job/waged work at a decent wage; all evacuees must have immediate access to an income including for their unwaged caring and survival work; companies who owed people for their work before the hurricane should pay this money now; the federal government should fine employers who show discrimination against hiring evacuees;

 WE DEMAND QUALITY FAMILY CARE

  • access to free quality childcare, elder care; care and support for people with disabilities; family members who are caring for children, the elderly and those with disabilities should be paid and receive other resources for that work;

  WE DEMAND NO DISCRIMINATION

  • no discrimination based on sex, race, age, economic, background, immigration and other legal or social status, sexual orientation, disability, etc;

 WE DEMAND FULL ACCOUNTABILITY

  • accountability and transparency for all monies from government and non-governmental organizations that is supposed to help or be handed to evacuees; how much did the Red Cross, United Way, FEMA, the City of San Francisco and other Bay Area cities receive for evacuees’ relief; how much money has come in and how is it being spent; how much of it is going to salaries and other administrative costs and how much gets to evacuees?

 For more info or to send back the form, contact: Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area
Box 14512 San Francisco CA  94114 or call/fax to 415-626-4114   sf@crossroadswomen.net

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 I/We support the demands of the Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area

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 Donation _____________________________________ Thank you!

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