Thousands Open Homes for Katrina Victims

Sept. 2, 2005 — -- Their homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Karen Rogers and about 30 of her family members went on Tuesday to the American Red Cross facility in Atlanta to try to find temporary housing.

The Red Cross said it could only give them a map to a crisis center.

Two days later, Leon van Gelderen, an Atlanta attorney, showed up at the Red Cross and said he had an open rental property and could house 10 people.

He was told the Red Cross could not put him in touch with anybody.

Luckily for both the Rogers family and van Gelderen, online organizations have been stepping up to provide services that relief organizations are too overwhelmed to provide.

"When I put the listing on the Web site in the evening, I had five or six families respond by the morning," van Gelderen said while he was sending out e-mails to his friends challenging them to help. Van Gelderen had his entire staff mobilizing relief efforts, rather than focusing on business. "The private sector has to start doing just as much as the government."

Van Gelderen listed his available housing through Moveon.org, a liberal-leaning, nonprofit political organization.

MoveOn launched its hurricane housing site on Thursday afternoon, and within 25 hours received offers for 45,000 beds -- 11,500 within driving distance of New Orleans, according to MoveOn President Eli Pariser.

"Basically we were just racking our brains trying to figure out how we could help our members provide some help for victims," said Pariser. "We have a direct line to 3 million people and there might be a lot who might be able to open up their homes."

People like Rogers are overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness.

"You never think people are this wonderful; you only hear the bad things," Rogers said. "It feels like Christmas. I feel really blessed.