New Orleans Reconnections

[Mike]

Taking off my usual hat I'm bringing up a very new kind of topic.

I just got off the phone with a poster here, not a heavy poster, but he told me he posted a little at the old site, and he gave me permission to mention his name here. His name is Eddie Morales and he is from a suburb of New Orleans, evacuated for now, but just beginning to slowly re-enter.

He told me that there are so many people that are not moving back into the area that the permanent disconnect with neighborhood friends is going to be massive. I suggested to him that we could look around for a website that might help in this area of need.

Does anyone know of such a website?

Would anyone like to put such a website together if one is not available now?

I can envision a board with a forum for every town and community, subdivided down with users placing threads for every neighborhood, every school, every bar and tavern, every coffee shop, and every hangout. This way friends and acquaintances can find each other.

My vision is not complete, and I can also see plenty of room for abuses, but is there any such site already in existence? Or is there any computer forum geek that can see how it might be done?

It occurred to me that something might even be done here, but the potentially gigantic number of users might make it impractical to continue with normal GSC business.

Any ideas?

Edited October 4, 2005 by Mike

[Mike]

The potential users of such a site could also include regular (or not so regular) visitors to New Orleans who are disconected with many people.

Edited October 4, 2005 by Mike

[CoolWaters]

Hiya Mike! So nice to chat with you about something besides our differences!!!! It's really nice! :D

I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for so I thought I'd link you to this thread.

Let me know if that's the kind of thing you're talking about, OK?

[Mike]

WOW!

CoolWaters, I'm impressed at all the work you've already been doing in this line. I will forward all of this to Eddie.

BTW, Eddie is not one of my "diciples" at all in the PFAL stuff, just a grad. I was engaged in a heated debate with him by e-mail after meeting him on another grad site JUST DAYS before Katrina struck.

We were just getting around to seeing each other's sides a bit, and cooling down the debate when he saw the sudden need to evacuate. Ever since then it's been mostly prayer with lots of cell phone disconnects and long blackouts.

He stayed in a tent with his 80 year old mother on the front lawn of some gracious inland residents for weeks, but now is getting an apartment. His house was flooded, but may escape demolition. Lots of mold and everything ruined.

It's been an interesting and totally unexpected connection for me, and the news reports have been something I can relate to more than I ever dreamed possible with his first hand insights getting through once in a while.

He's looking to God and accepting the great challenges. I've been only able to help him in prayer, a tiny bit of money, encoraging words, and now I'm looking for ways to help with the collapse of his whole social structure.

CoolWaters, thank you for your help greatly. I haven't had a chance to see if anything like my grandiose idea for a website is in the collection you linked me to, but time will tell.

Thanks again.

Edited October 5, 2005 by Mike