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| By Paula Canning Staff Writer HOLYOKE In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, there are countless victims in need of housing, and there are countless local families that want to offer their homes. The problem, according to Executive Director of the Mass Fair Housing Center (MHFC) Jamie Williamson, is finding a way to connect the two. With this in mind, Williamson announced last week that MHFC, a fair-housing non-profit organization formerly known as the Housing Discrimination Project, will devote its efforts to connecting those made homeless by the disaster to those individuals or organizations in western Massachusetts offering private housing. "We will serve as a local clearing house for individuals who want to offer private housing, but would like to do so through a local organization rather than rely entirely on national web sites," Williamson said. Plans to coordinate transportation for evacuees to be brought to the region is also currently in the works, she said. In order to move forward with this, Williamson said she has been working with the city and Mayor Michael Sullivan, who has been helping the organization to establish contact in the governor's office. Williamson is also looking to find suitable housing for some of the elderly left homeless from the disaster. She said she is currently working with the city, which may be donating an unused wing of an elderly housing unit. One of the major problems is going to be determining what types of services and assistance will be available to the victims, she said, explaining that she hoping to maintain communication with the federal government to get this type of information to the victims. Being successful in connecting victims to those offering housing is going to be difficult, according to Williamson, especially because the nationwide effort is being coordinated by a number of different organizations and municipalities that haven't historically worked together. "I think under these circumstances, we're just going to have to do the best that we can," she said. Williamson, who will be personally offering her home in Pittsfield to the hurricane victims, said she was inspired to have MHFC serve as a coordinating center after coming to realize how difficult it was to provide a housing donation. "I wanted to offer housing myself to hurricane victims but I could not find any local contact," Williamson said. "Further, I had no idea how if I were to find a family through one of the national websites, how they would be able to get to my home in western Mass." Williamson said she decided she would offer her home to a family made homeless from the disaster after witnessing on television the devastation caused by the hurricane. "I was just absolutely amazed that more help wasn't coming to these people," she said. "I just thought [donating my home] would be the gracious thing to do." She added that she feels that we all have an obligation to "do whatever we can to make things a little less painful for the victims." She said that many people in the area have offered their homes to the hurricane victims an act she said "just warms my heart." "It's great that so many people are willing to give from their heart without the expectation of compensation," she said. Knowing that not everyone is in a position in which they can provide housing for the victims, Williamson said she is hoping that people will contribute "in any way that they can and in any way they find meaningful." Williamson urges anyone who wishes to donate housing to contact MHFC at 1-800-675-7309 or to go to MHFC's website, www.massfairhousing.com, or email directly at donateyourhome@massfairhousing.com. |