Goldi Guerra and Friends helping to muck out the many mold-damaged homes in Staten Island. from their Facebook Page.

Those of you who don’t listen to Sex and Politics may have missed out on what is a continuing story here in NY–in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy (which hit last OCTOBER), there are still big pockets of damage and hardship. My guest was Goldi Guerra of the Guitarmy, a great group of musicians in the Occupy Wall Street movement, but Goldi came on to talk about continuing needs in Staten Island, which took a really big hit from Sandy. The group Occupy Sandy has called for volunteers to come by and help with the continuing rebuilding and cleanup needed. They’re at 551 Midland Avenue in Staten Island. Per Goldi, there’s a big group concern that many of the damaged houses still aren’t fit to be re-habitated by their former owners, but are sitting empty–prime targets for folks moving in and squatting. The faster these homes can get rehabbed, the faster the former residents can move back. Mold remediation is an especially big task, along with keeping the homes ‘varmint-free’.

If you have a few spare hours, click the ‘volunteer’ button or contact Occupy Sandy through their Facebook page. Or if you have dollars but not time, go onto the Occupy Sandy Staten Island ‘wedding registry’ page. Be generous.

I will save a longer rant for why we’re paying for agencies to do this work and the real logistical struggle is being carried out by volunteers. Another time.

Go get ’em.

PS: this is being written on the road from a hotel computer that freaks out every time I type the word ‘sex’. Mistakes corrected by Sunday AM.