Tornadoes In Minneapolis!

[west336]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Will write more later, but a fund has been established for immediate and long-term resident needs with funds matched by the Minneapolis Foundation and United Way who will grant to local organizations working directly with affected residents. I would highly recommend donating to this fund not only to ensure that the highest level of match is reached, but also because the United Way and Minneapolis Foundation are both connected enough to Northside organizations to be able to soundly assess needs and allocate funds where most needed: Minnesota Helps

Thanks! I had to donate considering it was going to be matched. It's small but if everybody chips in this area and its residents will recover all the better!

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by DirtMagurt

I contacted Urban Homeworks in an attempt to help out today and tomorrow but they assigned me to help starting Wednesday and through the weekend if I wish, so they must be trying to limit the crowds. Which I suppose is necessary to keep things operating relatively smoothly. Too many volunteers is not a bad problem to have.

This is great Dirt, your skill set is exactly what they need and hope you were able to connect. There should be ongoing volunteer opps throughout the next few weeks, so am hoping people continue to stay eager to help out. Although it has become abundantly clear that organizations/govt agencies in Minneapolis were not prepared for a disaster of this magnitude, things seem to be getting on a better track with coordinating efforts and the organizations that have been involved to date have been awesome and really stepped up to respond (Urban Homeworks has been at the forefront of this effort).

A lot of the local organizations that have been most active, outside of the great work of organizations like the Red Cross of course, have been local community-based orgs and church groups on the Northside- all of whom are mission-based, but not a lot of whom have a lot of capacity/extra resources/ or experience coordinating efforts of this magnitude. Some organizations that don't have any focus on basic needs have just put their other work/services on hold to focus on the response, through efforts/initiatives coordinated by their own organization or assisting other orgs with volunteer efforts. One issue that has come up for some of the Northside nonprofits is that some have so many staff that live on the Northside and were affected by the storm that they have been short-staffed this week while trying to respond and maintain services simultaneously.

It has been disappointing to see that there are some local govt agencies/community based orgs/foundations whose work, experience, missions, and/or financial resources tie in well to the work needing to be done that have yet to step up/devote resources to help (I won't name names, but am just a little disheartened by some organizations' inability/inflexibility to step out of their day-to-day operations/work on quick notice...)

So, the volunteer efforts and donations have definitely been (and will continue to be) needed, and things seem to be getting on a better track with local organizations/resources coordinating/collaborating better with each other in the last day or two (I won't speak on government agencies, however, as many of their efforts have quite frankly been disappointing/unhelpful). It's unclear what financial resources (outside of the funds being raised through the North Mpls Recovery Fund/GiveMN link I previously posted) are going to be made available to help residents relocate into new homes, get clothing, etc. A fraction of people will qualify for Emergency Assistance from the county, but it's unclear what help will be available for the rest of the displaced. FEMA reps will be in town surveying the damage tomorrow, but it's unclear whether the devastation is going to meet the necessary formula/amount for a federal declaration that would bring in FEMA resources....(and, even if that does happen, they wouldn't be available for some time). Many of the displaced persons are low-income/lack insurance.

The number of buildings that have already been condemned/deemed uninhabitable is somewhere in the 80-100 range now, and this number doesn't include many homes/buildings that they are unable to survey due to blockage from trees...

[Camden Northsider]

(just posted this on another thread, but wanted to cover both bases). I have been working on the front lines of human needs response coordination efforts most of this week. There is a big and very immediate need for non-perishable food donations, and donations should go directly to shiloh temple international ministries.

I have been extraordinarily impressed by my work with Shiloh and their responsiveness in getting items quickly/responsively to those in need. If you have friends or neighbors asking about what non-monetary items can be donated, or know people organizing drives- please direct them to getting non-perishable food to Shiloh!!!

[audadvnc]

I just called Minneapolis 311 and heard the message, "thank you all for supporting the tornado cleanup effort. All 3000 volunteer spots for the June 4 cleanup have been filled."

Thanks, all, from North Mpls!

[audadvnc]

I just got back from the morning shift of the city volunteer cleanup effort. It was huge! 1000 people came this morning from all over, and another 1000 were expected this afternoon. I got to meet councilman Don Samuels, Mayor RT Ryback and N Mpls blogger Megan Goodmunson, and got taped by a KARE 11 News camera crew - maybe you'll see me on your TeeVee tonite (I'm the middle aged guy with the striped shirt)! My group picked up and moved the debris of at least 2 garages and a full house roof - does that make us N Mpls house flippers?