displaced by Katrina
By Sara Rosner / Special to The Malibu Times
The nonprofit organization CoAbode of Santa Monica has until Friday to reach its goal of raising $25,000 matching a donor’s contribution to expand its services to help find housing for single mothers and their children who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. As of Tuesday, the organization had raised $16,000.
CoAbode provides an online database of profiles of single mothers and their children who are looking to share homes and pool resources with other single-mother families. Members can register, create a profile and view compatibility criteria of other members that include age, location and number of children.
Founder and Director Carmel Sullivan said that CoAbode members have been eager to help Hurricane Katrina victims. “It all started off with members volunteering,” Sullivan said. “It didn’t dawn on me that CoAbode could be a real resource until these moms started contacting me.”
Sullivan, a single mother of a 13-year-old son, created the organization five years ago when she said she discovered the demand of single-mother families who wanted to share homes and expenses with women in similar situations. CoAbode has since grown to 18,000 members nationwide.
In addition to member support, the organization has also caught the attention of nonmember mothers. Malibu resident and donor Mindy Gullen discovered CoAbode three years ago and continues to contribute her time and money to the cause. “I love the organization and want to help it as much as I can,” said Gullen, who has two adult sons. “Too bad they weren’t around when I was raising my kids.”
Gullen said CoAbode provides a perfect opportunity to help Hurricane Katrina victims: “I think helping the Katrina victims is every person’s duty. We will help you get back on your feet. You will not be homeless.”
Laurene O’Brien is offering to house a single mother and her children. She said she could relate to women who raise children on their own. “I was a single parent myself for a couple of years,” said O’Brien, who is a nurse in New York. “How nice it would have been to have four hands instead of two.”
Through e-mails to CoAbode, mothers from around the country are offering housing, amenities and even medical care. One woman from Mississippi who returned home after a weeklong evacuation wrote, “My house was spared major damage. I’d love to take in a single mom with girls.”
The organization also hosts a Web site called the Circle of Friends, where mothers can create and find support groups. In addition to the support groups, Sullivan said the organization is advantageous because it provides a long-term alternative and better living arrangements for children. “It’s one thing to go into shelters for a few weeks,” Sullivan said, “but CoAbode can be used as a permanent solution.”
The Three Guineas Fund, a San Francisco-based economic support group for women and girls, has pledged to donate $3,000 for every $1,000 received by CoAbode. Money raised will be used to waive member registration fees for Hurricane Katrina victims and to support administrative expansion needed to accommodate hundreds of new members. All donations can be made at www.coabode.org