[Katrina-IT-Volunteers] FW: RSVP Jan. 11 TODAY for Jan. 18
Dale Thompson
dale at austinfree.net
Wed Jan 11 09:39:36 CST 2006
You may have already received this invite individually in your snail mail,
but just in case you didn't. Sorry for the late notice.
Dale Thompson
Austin Free-Net
-----Original Message-----
From: Sue Cole [mailto:sucole at hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 9:04 AM
To: dale at austinfree.net
Subject: RSVP Jan. 11 TODAY for Jan. 18
Please invite your staff and incredible volunteers helping Katrina and Rita
survivors to the Red Cross reception invitation. Here is the blurb I
received recently in the mail. I think it should apply to all the
convention center and post-cc volunteers...
Remember RSVP today (Jan. 11) - 929-1202 OR rsvp at centex.redcross.org !!!
--Sue Cole
OUR THANKS
We have seen the generosity of Central Texans soar to uncharted heights and
the compassion of the American heart shine more brightly than ever before.
Never have we faced challenges and adversity as we did during the response
to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Because of your generosity, the American
Red Corss has been able to give vital support ot those affected by the
hurricanes, while still providing help and hope to your neighbors in need.
You are cordinally invited to attend a Volunteer Appreciation Reception,
Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 6:00 p.m., Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton
Springs Rd.
Please respond by January 11, (512) 929-1202, rsvp at centex.redcross.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
From: "Dale Thompson" <dale at austinfree.net>
Reply-To: Dale Thompson <dale at austinfree.net>
To: <katrina-it-volunteers at soaustin.net>, <afnvol at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Katrina-IT-Volunteers] AFN: Austin Chronicle 2005 Best
ofAustin"Katrina Evacuee Hookup"
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 19:59:44 -0500
>I just want to say that the Chronicle award really belongs to all those
>amazing people who responded to our e-mails and showed up day after day
>during the most chaotic situation I've ever seen in my life. To Chip and
>Glenn and David and Jenn for providing an infrastructure that made it all
>work. Glenn even helped me respond to all those initial e-mails
>individually! Ally and Annell who showed up instantly when I called
panic
>stricken the first day and kept showing up. Content for getting the
>volunteer orientation materials started. Denise who found that great
meeting
>room scheduling web site that we all used to schedule ourselves, and
tweaked
>it so it made sense for a purpose for which it wasn't intended. I could
go
>on forever.
>
> I am so proud to have had the privilege of working with you and of all
that
>you accomplished with your kindness and generosity and sincerely hope
that
>we can all get together for a picnic or party of some sort soon (assuming
>we're all over that wretched cold). You rock.
>
>Dale Thompson
>Austin Free-Net
>
>PS - I'll start working on that picnic.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ana" <ana at austinfree.net>
>To: <katrina-it-volunteers at soaustin.net>
>Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 11:13 AM
>Subject: [Katrina-IT-Volunteers] AFN: Austin Chronicle 2005 Best of
>Austin"Katrina Evacuee Hookup"
>
>
>Dearest Friends,
>
>In case you missed it, Austin Free-Net is on page 78 of the 2005 Austin
>Chronicle Best of Austin as "Best Katrina Evacuee Hookup!"
>
>Excerpt:
>"Their [referring to AFN] presence at the Austin Convention Center during
>the aftermath of the evacuation of New Orleans helped to create lifelines
>for countless folks, some passing through, some now calling Austin home."
>
>At the foot of this message, you will also find an article from
>Tolerance.org; it was sent to us by AFN Collaborative Board member, Carl
>Webb. It address issues of the digital divide as it relates to Katrina.
It
>is timely and, I believe, will serve to underscore our own local efforts
>such as:
>
>:: the vital importance of the Convention Center computer bank set up by
>the City, AMD, AISD, and others;
>
>:: the 300+ volunteers that signed up early on and all those who continue
>to step up. Yesterday, among the most recent of examples, there were
>those who helped set up a new lab at Foundation Communities' Hearthside
>"hotel" where 100 units were set aside for @300 Katrina evacuees along
>with their other clients. Today, Convio volunteers are doing their "Day
of
>Caring" at that location to help Hearthside residents to learn to use the
>new lab to find family and friends, jobs and other vital resources
online.
>This lab includes 5 of the 50 AMD Personal Internet Communicators (PICs)
>and other equipment donated after Convention Center services ended;
>
>:: the great volunteer database created by UT staff that is now an
>invaluable resource to AFN's volunteer coordination
>
>:: the AFN site partners that have been stretching their resources to
>include services to Katrina survivors;
>
>Kudos to
>
>:: AFN Collaborative Board members, AMD and Grande, who were also
>recognized by the Austin Chronicle for "Corporate Acts of Civility,"
>thanks in no small part to their work to support public access to the
>Internet and computing resources;
>
>and, without a doubt
>
>:: the exemplary leadership and generosity of AFN's fantastic City
>staffers, Dale Thompson and John Neale (and their family members) who
were
>able to recruit over 300 volunteers, support the computer bank, and
bridge
>the various bureaucracies in order to get work done in a timely and
>efficient manner.
>
>Big thanks for your continued support and congrats to all of us.
>
>Ana Sisnett
>Executive Director
>Austin Free-Net
>
>---------------------------- Original
Message ----------------------------
>Subject: Katrina Highlights 'Digital Divide'
>From: "Carl Webb" <carlwebb1965 at yahoo.com>
>Date: Thu, October 13, 2005 8:17 pm
>To: "BDPA Austin" <bdpa-austin at yahoogroups.com>
> afrotexas at yahoogroups.com
> "Electronic Freedom Frontiers" <discuss at effaustin.org>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Katrina Highlights 'Digital Divide'
>
>Oct. 6, 2005 -- Hurricane Katrina underscored the
>persistence of America's digital divide. New research
>indicates what can be done about it.
>By Carrie Kilman | Staff Writer, Tolerance.org
>
>In the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina, droves of
>New Orleans residents turned to the Internet for
>information about evacuation routes and to get
>detailed updates about the coming storm.
>
>Afterward, the Internet became a major tool for
>reuniting lost family members and matching people in
>need with services and charitable organizations.
>
>But for New Orleans' poorest residents, these online
>tools were largely out of reach.
>
>It was an unmistakable example of what some
>researchers call the digital divide: the large gap -
>between whites and people of color, between middle
>class and poor - in Internet access.
>
>In the days before and after Hurricane Katrina, "you
>saw this asymmetry," said Alec Ross, senior vice
>president of One Economy, a national organization that
>helps low-income people use technology to build wealth
>and assets.
>
>"Middle-income people had good information and were
>able to take action. Low-income people who didn't have
>access to the Internet tended to have very bad
>information, in terms of evacuation routes and
>emergency preparedness. We saw very clearly what this
>information deficit meant."
>
>A growing problem
>A recent report commissioned by the Leadership
>Conference on Civil Rights suggests the digital divide
>isn't going away any time soon.
>
>The report, authored by economist Robert Fairlie,
>shows persistent disparities in access to online
>technologies between whites and people of color.
>
>The gap, according to the report, is most severe among
>children. Nearly 80% of white children in the U.S.
>have Internet access at home, compared to only 40% of
>black and Latino children. Students who have home
>computers, the research shows, are more likely to
>graduate and have higher GPAs, and less likely to be
>suspended.
>
>The biggest factors contributing to the divide are
>race and education level, Fairlie says. Language is a
>barrier for non-English-speaking populations. For
>rural America, geography plays an important role, too.
>
>
>Internet access at home - as opposed to school, the
>workplace or the public library - is important because
>it's available at all times of day and allows privacy
>for users who want to access sensitive information,
>like bank accounts and bill payments.
>
>"Internet access in schools has really gone up a lot,"
>Fairlie says. "But where is the policy that addresses
>the home issue? There isn't one. And that impacts our
>ability to be informed, to communicate, and,
>especially in disasters, our ability to get
>information, like in Katrina."
>
>As seen in Katrina, the costs of the digital divide
>can be tremendous. Much information critical to
>evacuees - whether searching for new jobs, requesting
>bill extensions, or getting information about housing
>vouchers - is most easily accessed online.
>
>"We've always said it costs a lot to be poor - that if
>you don't have certain things in your life, like a
>checking account, for example, that can cost you up to
>$1,000 a year, if you calculate how much it costs to
>cash a check at a liquor store, or do bill payments
>with certified checks," said David Saunier, vice
>president of One Economy's media division. "With the
>advent of the Internet and the poor being the last to
>access it, that rift has gotten even bigger."
>
>Signs of progress
>With New Orleans all but emptied by Katrina, some
>business and academic leaders are suggesting the city
>be rebuilt as a wired, technological mecca. One
>Economy is working with government officials - from
>Congress to the mayor's office - to make sure
>low-income residents aren't left out of the mix.
>
>"I think you need to be living under a rock to think
>that we don't rely on the Internet as an indispensable
>part of our daily lives," Ross says. "Not being part
>of the digital age isolates you from the mainstream.
>It's our hope that by investing in (technology access
>for) people who are moving back into the New Orleans
>region, they will be better equipped to get better
>jobs and better paying jobs."
>
>The group's efforts in New Orleans mirror nationwide
>campaign to link Internet access and public housing.
>So far, 31 states have adopted legislation either
>requiring or encouraging that all new public housing
>projects funded by federal dollars be wired for
>broadband.
>
>A promising One Economy report suggests that when
>low-income people of color do have home access to
>high-speed Internet, they are more likely than other
>groups to use it for educational and asset-building
>purposes, like homework help and setting up checking
>accounts.
>
>"It's the idea that in today's world, access to the
>Internet is as ubiquitous as having a refrigerator or
>a microwave," Saunier says.
>
>In the chaos of the Katrina aftermath, some signs of
>hope are emerging.
>
>"A lot of people used the Internet for the first time
>when they were in the (evacuation) camps, entering
>their information into the FEMA databases, signing up
>for email accounts so they could find lost relatives,"
>Ross said. "One thing this hurricane has shown is that
>thousands of people have entered the digital age as a
>result of this, and they aren't going back."
>
>http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1304
>
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>
>
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