The KatrinaRitaVille Express -- coming to you!

Readers of Facing South know that the Hurricane Katrina crisis never really ended, and the Gulf Coast is still in dire need of a real recovery. But they can't do it alone -- if the 60,000 people still living in "temporary" FEMA trailers are to get the help they need, we need to make Katrina recovery a national issue.

But how do we take this message to the American public? Derrick Evans, a grassroots activist on the Mississippi coast, had an idea: literally drive it to our doorsteps. Earlier this year, Derrick bought a standard-issue FEMA trailer, and has been driving it around the country so people can see first-hand what Katrina victims have to deal with. Here's how Derrick describes the KatrinaRitaVille Express:

A young coalition of survivors and advocates called the Gulf Coast Peoples Movement for Full and Fair Recovery has launched a nationwide Katrina-Rita-ville Tour, featuring two modified FEMA trailers outfitted to show the American public and federal policy makers what is actually happening throughout their region. "Not only in New Orleans, but across the Gulf Coast, dislocation, privatization and the trashing of our public trust resources are the escalating norm. Our families, communities and environment can't stand much more," says Evans, whose nonprofit, Turkey Creek Community Initiatives/Turkey Creekkeeper, has sued both the City of Gulfport and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on environmental matters since Hurricane Katrina.

Want to bring the KatrinaRitaVille Express to your community? Contact Derrick and Turkey Creek Community Initiatives here.