Back on August 30, 2007, I blogged on the Gulf Coast Civil Works Project. The Color of Change still is supporting this logical and comprehensive approach to restoring civil and economic security to far too many displaced people.

www.colorofchange.org/gulfcoast/

Here is the description of the project I previously posted.

Here's the proposal as laid out by Prof. Myers-Lipton:

The Proposal:
The GC Civic Works Project will hire 100,000 Gulf Coast residents to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding region. The residents, who will be given subsidized tickets back to their neighborhoods, will build and repair houses, schools, parks, and other civic buildings and spaces.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project accomplishes 4 things:

1. provide our citizens with living wage jobs,
2. make housing available for themselves and their communities,
3. restore a sense of personal empowerment and hope, something which has been stolen from our people, and
4. restore faith among our citizenry of the government’s ability to respond to the needs of its people through a public-private partnership.

Projected Cost:
Based on a ratio of labor to materials of 80-20, and a wage rate of $12 per hour, the total cost of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project is $3.125 billion. The projected cost of wages is $2.5 billion, while the cost of materials is $625 million.

Reps Rodney Alexander (R-LA), Charlie Melancon (D-LA), Gene Taylor (D-MS), the Louisiana Republican Party, and 13 other members of Congress have already signed on in support of HR 4048. What's needed now is leadership to make this plan a reality and fulfill this country's obligation to those it left behind after Katrina.