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Emergency Communities is a volunteer organization which formed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It has provided meals and other relief to residents and emergency responders, first in Mississippi, then in Louisiana.

Geodesic domes of the Emergency Communities "tent city" in devastated St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana

The group began with assistance from the International Humanities Center, which provides 501[c](3) fiscal sponsorship.^[1] Many key Emergency Communities volunteers met at the New Waveland Café in Waveland, Mississippi. This cafe provided meals, medical services and free goods for local residents. On 1 December 2005, the café closed its location, which was located in the parking lot of Fred's Department Store on U.S. Route 90 in Waveland.^[2] In November, Emergency Communities was incorporated. By 12 December the group had begun serving meals in a parking lot in Arabi, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans.^[3] This operation, dubbed the Made With Love Café, continued through June 2006. It has provided up to 1400 meals per day to government workers, relief workers and returning residents in and around St. Bernard Parish, the civil parish where the café is located.^[4] The site, formerly an off-track betting parlor, became recognizable by its large tents and geodesic dome.^[3][5]

Sign outside tent where meals are served

As of 08 May 2006, Emergency Communities volunteers had included approximately 300 from AmeriCorps/NCCC or others supported by grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service.^[6] On 1 June 2006, Emergency Communities shut down its outdoor operation in St. Bernard Parish, simultaneously opening a larger indoor operation a few miles away. On the same date, Emergency Communities served its first meal at a new location in Buras, Louisiana.^[7]

1. ^ IHCenter Member Groups. International Humanities Center. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
2. ^ Renee Rosensteel & Mary Levine. "Storm Relief Surge: Free spirits and the faithful continue to outpace official Katrina relief", Pittsburgh City Paper, 2006-03-09. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
3. ^ ^{a b} United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area Continues Relief Effort in St. Bernard Parish. United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
4. ^ Jones, Steven T.. "From here to Katrina", San Francisco Bay Guardian, 2006-02-22. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
5. ^ Thomas, Ben. "Vaudeville troupe visits Katrina survivors", Port Townsend Leader, 2006-05-04. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
6. ^ National Service Responds to the Hurricanes: By the Numbers. Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
7. ^ Next Stop: Plaquemines Parish – Emergency Communities announces the opening of a new relief kitchen and community center in Buras, Louisiana. Emergency Communities. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.

• Emergency Communities
• Emergency Communities on Wikibooks

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