WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
New Orleans Storms around Labor Day get my full attention. Betsy hit hard in the fall of 1965 right after school began and took more than a week to get everything back in gear. Katrina in 2005 hit at the end of August and decimated the city of New Orleans in what is now …
New Orleans It was so quiet that it felt like living in the country. If there had been more stars and fewer houses, I might have thought I was stepping out of my trailer in Wyoming, rather than standing on my porch at 3AM to check on the Tropical Storm Barry. There was hardly a …
Greenville Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico more than one-month ago. Few have missed the reports of devastation on the island and the continuing deprivation of its people. The majority of the island still lacks access to clean water and electricity. We have a many connections to the pain and problems of the island. Willie Cosme …
New Orleans The Houston Independent School District (HISD) has 287 schools. There are 20 school districts in Harris County. Our union represents school workers. We were on the phones with anyone we knew last week in Houston, calling our members to assess their situation and offer assistance in filling out FEMA forms or anything else …
New Orleans We keep a constant hurricane watch at my house. Anyone who has ever had the eye of a hurricane pass over them, keeps their eye on every hurricane. Having just seen the impact of Harvey in Houston and Beaumont, I have been upset over some of the lessons forgotten since Katrina. I have …