You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus. -Mark Twain

Dear Fellow Americans:

This letter is a call to action to those people who are deeply affected by what has happened to people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and who want to make a difference in this ravaged area.

We cannot afford as a country to fall prey to the sinister spawn of carelessness, hopelessness, anger and blame. We must turn our attention to restoration, rebuilding and return to home. This is the American way, and utilizes the best of who we are as a people: resourceful, entrepreneurial, creative and caring. This is what has made us great and this is what will restore our capitalistic democracy to the founding fathers' brightest vision.

This current crisis is clearly too great to be handled solely by any agency, organization or government, and needs a full-scale mobilization of the American people to restore this area to a place of hope and home.

The plan is simple, but needs the partnership of individuals, businesses, agencies and internet organizations to be accomplished. It is simply to adopt and rebuild New Orleans and beyond block by block, allowing the forces of democracy, innovation, and caring to rebuild this area in much the same way every American city has been built before -- organically by its stakeholders old and new.

I see communities, churches, schools, and businesses voluntarily adopting blocks of New Orleans. I see this force of Americans taking responsibility for what happens in our country-- each playing a different instrument of charity, caring and community. I see these 'adoptors' evaluating the damage and marshalling resources to plan and execute the rebuilding of "their" blocks with pride.

Internet mapping companies and search engines could perhaps be instrumental in coordinating a meaningful assignment of adoptors and neighborhoods-- perhaps a sporting group could improve the Superdome block, perhaps a church in Indiana could take on a residential block... the possibilities are endless.

As the government works on repairing infrastructure, and organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army tend to the immediate needs of our displaced citizens, we can ignite the flame of hope again by beginning a meaningful and practical planning process -- one manageable piece, at the same time as another managable piece, as another as another.

A checkerboard of restoration, a focused -- but organic -- clean up and regrowth.

Who can help in this effort? What leaders and spokespeople can move this notion into a real and active plan?  Who is willing to drop the shackles of doing it perfectly, and instead do it the American way-- imperfectly, but with great heart and a "can do" spirit? How can we accomplish the seemingly impossible, as we have before, but this time for the benefit of our citizens.

All of our citizens deserve to benefit from the creative, independent and neighborly qualities that have built great cities and innovated ideas that have improved the quality of life for millions. It is time to focus our efforts in building a Newer Orleans, and take responsibility for what we all know we need to do. This responsibility is a privilege, and can spark a positive wave of shock and awe the likes of which the world has never seen.

Thank you for your consideration.

An American Citizen

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Copyright 2000-2005 by Elizabeth Mullen. All rights reserved. May be duplicated or quoted for personal  use only with complete copyright information intact. Any other use, contact the author for permission. www.elizabethmullen.com