We were in Little Rock with the Southern Movement Assembly when Hurricane Helene made landfall. Instead of supporting folks across the Louisiana bayous through the storm, we found ourselves supporting our friends across Appalachia... sharing our experiences, lessons learned, and what we know now almost 20 years after Hurricane Katrina.

Since landfall, as a mutual aid organization we’ve found ourselves in a major support role, in conversation daily with others who are taking care of folks from Louisiana to North Carolina and beyond. “How are supplies sourced? What legal protections are needed? What should folks expect 2 days out, 2 weeks out, and 2 years out? What supplies will people need later? How do we make our mutual aid idea actionable? How should we word this offer or request?” We’ve been answering these questions and more, and while it doesn’t make for a flashy social media post or fundraising campaign, the work is real and vital.

At the same time, we’ve continued to steward The Imagination Farm as a space where those most impacted by climate change can explore, imagine, and share solutions for our future. We’ve continued to care for ourselves, to feed ourselves, to go to therapy, to go for walks...

We know this current moment requires so much more than a quick, easy plan or “program”. It requires deep, long term, multigenerational care. We know we must remain grounded and focused through struggle. We must continue to care courageously, in the background and in the foreground – and to prioritize connection and relationship to ourselves, each other, and the land. We know that it is possible. And we will continue to dream, to act, and to get free.

We stand with the International Longshoremen’s Association, alongside @southernpeoplespower, and in solidarity for fair pay at our ports. We especially stand with the 700+ workers in New Orleans who will be going on this historic strike tomorrow, should a deal not be reached by midnight — and we reject all media propaganda that places the blame on workers instead of on corporate greed.

People over profit. Always.

NOW TIL 6PM: We’re still distributing the following at The Imagination Farm (2718 Painters Street). Stop on by!

*ice
*ice chests
*DampRid (to help with moisture in your house/car)
*ready to eat meals
*nutritional shakes
*coloring books
*sunscreen
*bug repellent
*cooling gel bandanas
*5 gallon water containers
*New Orleans Community Resource Guides
*good vibes

We also welcome folks who want to pick up any of these supplies and take them down into the bayous to come load up.

Wanting to support? Donate to Hurricane Francine Relief at donorbox.org/francine or learn more about our work at www.imaginewaterworks.org.

FRIDAY: 12-6pm at The Imagination Farm (2718 Painters Street) *UPDATE*

We’ll be distributing DampRid to help soak up moisture from flooded cars/rooms, nutritional shakes for older kids, cooling gel bandanas to help with the heat, and ice.

Please note that this distribution is a chill one. We will be hanging out at the farm and cleaning up our tree damage, and we’re hoping to talk with folks and build community, too. Distribution is *while supplies last* and we have received very limited donations, so we do expect to run out. We’ll update this post when that happens!

We are also accepting supplies donations at the farm during this time (individual items and pallets). Please only bring items that you feel would be helpful in a power outage or flood cleanup situation. If you are looking to purchase items to donate, we recommend DampRid, cleaning supplies, ice, and fans. We will not be able to accept clothing or food that has been opened.

To support this work DONATE to donorbox.org/francine or VENMO @imaginewaterworks and @belowsealevelaid

The COMMUNITY POWER MAP is LIVE. Join the map via our website or at bit.ly/powernola.

ABOUT THE MAP: Community Power Stations are places to charge your devices and/or access wi-fi while the power’s out. In the spirit of mutual aid, the stations are hosted on a volunteer basis by neighbors, organizations, and businesses across the greater New Orleans area. Get power, share power!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: The map is open to anyone in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parish. Anyone is welcome to visit a power station and invited to add yours to the map. The more folks who join, the more useful the map will be.

Every location is verified as a safe place for LGBTQ and BIPOC individuals before being added to the map.

This is a truly people powered mutual aid effort, and together yall have already powered ~300 stations through Hurricane Zeta and Ida. Let’s do what we do ✊⚡️

COMMUNITY POWER MAP UPDATE: For those asking, yes!, we will again launch our Community Power Map in response to Hurricane Francine if power goes out for an extended period of time. Stay tuned for updates on the map through all of our social media channels.

ABOUT THE MAP: Community Power Stations are places to charge your devices and/or access wi-fi while the power’s out. In the spirit of mutual aid, the stations are hosted on a volunteer basis by neighbors, organizations, and businesses across the greater New Orleans area. Get power, share power!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: The map will be open to anyone in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parish. Once launched, anyone is welcome to use and join the map.

We will ask:
⚡️Your Name
⚡️Address of your Community Power Station
⚡️Is your location Residential, a Business, or an Organization?
⚡️Is there seating available?
⚡️Is your station a safe space for LGBTQ and BIPOC individuals?
⚡️Include any other important information about your setup and/or a picture if you have one.

Lastly, you’ll be encouraged to add additional supplies to your station if you’d like. In the past, some neighbors have shared snacks, candy, baby wipes, water, and more.

This is a truly people powered mutual aid effort, and together yall have already powered ~300 stations through Hurricane Zeta and Ida ✊⚡️

OFFER: Nutrition shakes and cooling gel bandanas + additional supplies as needed

We are here at The Imagination Farm (2718 Painters Street) until 6:30pm TODAY. If you’d like to add nutrition shakes to your storm prep kit, come on over! These shakes are technically for kids, but they’re packed with protein and vitamins, and we grown-ups also drink them in a pinch...

We also have various additional supplies available for those who need them. DM us if you plan on stopping by, and we can put a quick kit together for you, as supplies last.

If you’re on Facebook, you can also find us anytime in the “Imagine Mutual Aid (New Orleans)” group, where neighbors help neighbors.

Everyone is welcome! But please note that all of this work is led by trans and two-spirit, Indigenous folks. Most of us are from here, doing our best to take care of the land and resources that we are stewards of. We will always prioritize safety for BIPOC and LGBTQ folks, and we will always bring others (that includes all of you!) along with us. ❤️

Storm Prep Q&A: Round Two is LIVE. Come ask questions, vent, or yell into the question box — we feel you. We’ll yell with you, give you storm prep tips from the pros, share sandbag locations, whatever you need.

We are still expecting to shelter in place for Tropical Storm Francine and encourage folks to continue preparing for street flooding. By this evening, parking bans will be lifted, so start scoping out where you might bring your car if your street typically floods.

We are also still offering support to groups and local businesses who use their spaces to help others after a storm. If this is you, and you are concerned about flooding, reach out ASAP so we can drop off some supplies to help keep you dry.

Swipe for a recap of some of what you asked in Round One!

SANDBAG LOCATIONS TUESDAY, 11am - 3pm or until supplies run out:

Dryades YMCA (2220 OC Haley)
St. Maria Goretti Church (7300 Crowder Blvd)
St. Leo the Great (2916 Paris Ave)
Desire/Florida Center (3250 Industry St)
Arthur Monday Center (1111 Newton St)

*Note that the above distributions are hosted by the City of New Orleans. We are just helping to spread the word.*

BONUS TIPS FROM OUR HURRICANE GUIDE: Always place a layer of trash bags and/or tarps under the sandbags to prevent leakage. If you can’t get sandbags, potting soil works. After the storm, repurpose it in the garden. Read the full guide on our website in English or Spanish.

IF YOU HAVE A COMMUNITY CENTER, MUTUAL AID HUB, OR GATHERING SPACE at risk of street flooding, DM us! We want to help keep you dry + ready to help others after the storm. This can include bars and restaurants, local businesses, etc. Y’all are our first responders.

We are calm and monitoring Tropical Storm Francine, and we encourage folks to begin preparing for street flooding (regardless of where the final cone lands) and a Cat 1 hurricane. We’ll also be launching our Q&A soon and are happy to answer all of your questions there. We promise to, as always, give you accurate, informed, and home grown answers — without the fear and extra trauma, and sometimes with a joke or two for relief. New Orleans style.

That’s the vibe of our hurricane guide (available in English and Spanish), which is 20-30 pages and updated every year. This year’s guide includes more information about watches versus warnings and advice for caregivers of children. Please help your friends prepare by spreading the word about both translations of the guide. 💜💚💛

This week we assembled and delivered Spanish hurricane kits to neighbors across New Orleans East, working with local schools to prioritize families with the greatest need.

Each kit contained: a waterproof container and folder, cooling gel bandanas, an emergency solar/crank radio, a high quality battery pack for charging phones and fans, a 5-gallon reusable water jug, coloring books and markers, a deck of cards, a 7-day candle and lighter, DampRid, sunscreen and 72 hours of food (for a family of four) with a can opener from @cultureaidnola, bug repellent from @louisianajustrecovery, and nutritional shakes from @gnocaringcollective. We also included a copy of the New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal to help increase access to free and low-cost services, as well as Spanish versions of our 2024 Hurricane Guide, Storm Prep Checklist, and Waterproof Folder Checklist.

Download your own copy of any of our prep materials via our website – and please spread the word to other Spanish speaking folks that these resources are home grown and available online any time.

Special shoutout to our Language Access Coordinator, Ale, for making year two of #PrepTheEast possible!

Hi! I used to talk more directly with yall on here quite often, but social media is such a wild place (and honestly, I’m a human living a very human life). I wanted to check in today though because, whew, I’m seeing so many Katrina posts on our 19th anniversary. A lot of them are scary, and sad, and I know you may be feeling heavy today — and that’s okay. That being said, I’m wondering what brings you comfort? Let yourself take that nap, make a little pot of tea, go see a friend, head to your favorite water spot.

In the spirit of taking care of ourselves and each other today and throughout the rest of hurricane season, here’s joy at the lake, a few quotes that have resonated recently, and some pieces from the “Queer/Trans Guide to Storms” zine that have been helping me feel more whole today.

Seeing your grief and sending much joy and love through it,
— Klie

*All zine artists have been tagged and are local queer/trans folks who have been through a storm before. Please support their work 💖

Loved spending time with y’all, nerding out about storm supplies and sharing how we keep each other safe through storms. We also got to distribute dozens of emergency solar/crank/battery radios, resource guides, hurricane prep checklists, and cooling gel bandanas to folks in Desire.

Thank you for inviting us to collab, Small And Mighty Land Cooperative!

Last week at July Supply with @cultureaidnola we distributed extra-durable copies of the 2024 New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal to 400 families, alongside more fresh food, contact solution, laundry kits, and information about the Sun Bucks program from @louisianadcfs which offers $120 per kid to buy groceries throughout the summer. In case you missed it, here’s what you can do:

✅ Check out the “2024 New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal” on our website, available for download and print now.
✅ Contact klie@imaginewaterworks.org to pick up your own copy of the resource guide from The Imagination Farm.
✅ Learn about and apply for the Sun Bucks program at www.dcfs.louisiana.gov, or share the info with others.

See you again tomorrow at #JulySupply for our last Weather Preparedness Wednesday! Tomorrow’s distribution will include fresh food, shelf stable dry food to store for storms, pet food, cooling bandanas, more laundry kits, and IWW’s Hurricane Prep Checklists in English and Spanish.

This week at July Supply with @cultureaidnola we distributed our 2024 Hurricane Guide to 400 families, alongside more fresh food, shelf stable food, sunscreen, and natural bug repellent! In case you missed it, here’s what you can do:

✅ Check out the “2024 Hurricane Guide” on our website, available in English and Spanish.
✅ Remind your friends about The Coin Trick and set yours up now: Fill a cup with water, and freeze it. After it’s frozen, put a coin on top. Keep the cup in your freezer all season. If the power goes out for a long time while you’re away, the water in your cup will melt and the coin will sink to the bottom. That way, you’ll know whether your food is safe to eat when you come back home.
✅ Keep following our social media for tips in English and Spanish throughout storm season, and share with others so they can get prepared too.

*The tips above were pulled from our updated 2024 Hurricane Guide, available on our website.*

See you again next week at #JulySupply for another fun (and hopefully more dry) Weather Preparedness Wednesday! Next week’s distribution will include fresh food, shelf stable dry food, laundry packs, contact lens solution, and printed copies of the New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal.

Last week at July Supply with @cultureaidnola we distributed waterproof folders to 400 families! In case you missed it, here’s what you can do:

✅ Check out the “Waterproof Folder Checklist” on our website, available in English and Spanish.
✅ Use thick ziplock bags, purchase a waterproof envelope or bag online ($10-$40, just make sure it is *actually* waterproof!), or ask if anyone has extra bags in the “Imagine Mutual Aid - New Orleans” group on Facebook (link in bio).
✅ In a pinch, you can use your dishwasher for additional water *resistant* storage, but please note that it is not completely waterproof and will not hold up to significant flooding.

*The tips above were pulled from our updated 2024 Hurricane Guide, now also available on our website.*

See you again soon at #JulySupply for another fun Weather Preparedness Wednesday! This week’s distribution will include fresh food, plus a shelf stable dry food box, laundry packs, contact lens solution, and “Cold Kits” with information about keeping medicine and breastmilk cold when the power’s out (in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese).

Storm Prep Q&A: Tropical Storm Beryl

How it works: (1) We launch an anonymous Q&A in our Instagram Stories every time there’s a named storm in the Gulf. This does not automatically mean it’s a threat to us in New Orleans — it simply means that we know there is a storm out there, and you may have questions about it. (2) You share/ask what’s on your mind, scream into the void/question box, whatever helps. It can be truly anything! (3) We respond with thoughts, tips, and information from natives who have been through many storms before, meteorologists, and emergency management professionals.

We’ve done this for every named storm over the past six years, and we aren’t going anywhere. You can check out old Q&A’s in our pinned stories, but be gentle with yourself and your anxiety, and remember that every storm is different.

*If Instagram stories don’t work for you for any reason, you can also ask us questions in our DMs or on Facebook in the Imagine Mutual Aid (New Orleans) group.

It’s #JulySupply time! We’ve partnered with @cultureaidnola again this year to distribute food and storm prep items and information every Wednesday this month, weather permitting: 6pm @ 1835 St. Roch. No ID required.

This week’s distribution includes CAN’s year-round fresh food, plus a shelf stable dry food box, small disaster kit, waterproof boot covers, and a waterproof folder with information on what to keep safe and dry (in Spanish and English).

More about IWW’s waterproof folders: We released our first “what to pack in your waterproof folder” checklist in 2017 and, because of your donations, were able to pair the checklist with actual folder distributions in early 2022 to Queer/Trans Youth NOLA, Fund The People NOLA, and others. Items on the checklist range from “proof of residence and court documents” to “family photos and heirloom seeds” and are recommended by natives with lived experience, emergency management professionals, and lawyers who have navigated legal issues post-disaster.

Preparing our team so we can keep passing y’all accurate storm information!

We attended the first-ever #LADisasterLawSummit this past weekend in Lafayette and left feeling even more grounded in why and how we do what we do, working to build our own systems of care and resource those of us who are pushed to the margins before, during, and after a disaster. Here’s some of what was shared about this hurricane season, impacts on elderly and disabled folks, communicating about pets, and FEMA. #BelowTheBoudinLine

Thank you for our new cypress bar top, Dave and Cindy! This one should last us a long time.

The Imagination Farm exists as a mutual aid hub and a place for hope, healing, and imagination even when things are hard. It’s also a place to tinker and experiment - if you’d like to contribute a project or idea to the farm (structural, art skills, a plant, something weird to add to the garden, you name it), hit us up! *Swipe for the “before” pic.

Looking to donate to New Orleanians today? The New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal is truly a grassroots effort – made by you, used by you, and funded by you. It’s always free and is relied on as a valuable resource by thousands of individuals, mutual aid organizers, health care workers, crisis responders, counselors, librarians, caregivers, schools, and local organizations each year.

This year’s fundraising goal is $15,000 to support printing costs and, if the goal is met, our first-ever Spanish translation of the guide. The number of copies we’re able to print and hand out for free will be directly impacted by the amount raised this year.

If you love the resource guide, please donate or share today to help us get copies into the hands of the people: donorbox.org/nocrg2024

THURSDAY 5/2: Come hang out with us! We got SO MUCH DONE on the New Orleans Community Resource Guide update last week. Join us Thursday to bring it all home at #TheImaginationFarm from 10-4. Stay for an hour, all day, whatever works for you. We’re gonna get so much good work done and ALSO, we’re gonna dilly dally, share food, share stories, breathe the farm air, befriend trees, move our bodies, build community! We have little okra plants again for you to take home. I’m going to wear a big sunhat this time, and bring cookies. -Coleen aka @cold_bean

RSVP so we can get enough snacks: www.imaginewaterworks.org/5-2-resource-guide-call-a-thon
🍪🍪🍪☎️☎️☎️🍪🍪🍪☎️☎️☎️

Want to support with funds or a boost? Donate to or share our fundraiser to help print copies and, if we reach our fundraising goal, to translate the guide into Spanish: https://donorbox.org/nocrg2024

Call-A-Thon Day at the farm was beautiful, thanks to everyone who came out 💕☎️🌱 We got through most of the sections of the guide, played games, ate together, dreamed together, and took home okra starts!

The New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal is shared with thousands of neighbors every year, with copies being distributed to health clinics, schools, libraries, and partner organizations across the region (@wwavnola, @nolalibrary, @voiceoftheexperienced, @trystereo, @crescentcarenola, @neworleanssyringeaccess, @cultureaidnola, @nolaready, @cityofnola, @antigravitymag, @transqueeryouth.nola, @fund_the_people, @louisianaabortionfund, @ladepthealth, @uno_privateer_pantry, @nolarentersrightsassembly, and Imagine Mutual Aid — to name a few!). It’s truly a community effort to create, update, and get the information out to folks every year.

It’s community funded, too, and this year we need help printing copies, so we’ve launched a FUNDRAISER: $20 covers a copy for you and someone else, and it helps us toward our goal of translating the guide into Spanish this year.

Please donate and/or spread the word to people, organizations, and businesses who may be able to contribute: https://donorbox.org/nocrg2024

* Now back to compiling our updates! As always, we’ll share links here once the 2024 digital version is ready.

Trying something new to us at the farm: air layering! This technique allows you to start a new plant while it’s still on the tree, and it works well with figs. In about six weeks, we’ll check on these babies to see if they’ve formed a new root ball under the foil. Here’s how we did it:

🌱 Soak sphagnum moss in water for 1+ hours (careful, it expands a lot!)
🌱 Select a healthy stem and cut a ring of bark off (ahem, also called “girdling”...)
🌱 Scrape above where you took the ring of bark off to wound the stem (this is where the new roots will form)
🌱 Squeeze the moisture out of your moss like a sponge
🌱 Wrap moss around the wounded part that you just scraped
🌱 Tie a rubber band around it to keep it in place
🌱 Wrap in saran wrap (this keeps moisture in)
🌱 Wrap in foil (this keeps the sunlight out, which would cause mold/algae to form)
🌱 In 4-6 weeks (more heat = less time needed) take off the foil, et voilà!

P.S. Yes, we still work the full cycle of disasters and you’ll be seeing more and more information about that from us when we transition into Summer. This work is beautiful and hard, and we’re grateful the farm exists as a place to connect, experiment, rest, dream, and practice mutual aid with yall year-round. 💕

It was quite a week at the farm! We harvested the last of the loquat (that we could reach), planted okra from Storm, weathered a little flooding, repotted our okra seedlings, and installed the ring hook game in preparation for the New Orleans Community Resource Guide Call-A-Thon on Thursday (RSVP/details in bio and on our website).

If you’re free between 10-4, come on by! You can sign up for one or several 2-hour blocks, you’ll have an easy script to work from, and you’ll get a t-shirt and an okra start to take home. Equally as important, we’ll get to hang out with each other and you’ll know how to find #TheImaginationFarm again in the future when it’s activated for hurricanes.

Lastly, if you can’t make it to the Call-A-Thon but still want to support the resource guide, we’ve launched a fundraiser! If you’ve used the 60+ page guide in the past and found that having a printed copy was helpful (we distributed around 2000 last year alone), please consider donating so we can continue to print them. Each $10 donation covers one copy plus Spanish translation: donorbox.org/nocrg2024

1: Loquat harvest + okra starts
2: Bri with the pole harvester
3: Repotting okra seeds + starting new ones
4: Okra planted!
5: Shoutout to Storm for starting our fav Clemson spineless
6: New games at the farm
7: Flooded beds from the rain storm
8: A few hours later
9: Distributing DampRid to help w/ flooded cars
10: Details about the Call-A-Thon

THURSDAY 4/18: Help with the New Orleans Resource Guide for Resistance and Renewal, and come play farm games with us too. RSVP now!

Via @cold_bean: “We all do what we can. A bunch of us work together every year to update and distribute the New Orleans Community Resource Guide for Resistance & Renewal. If you’re in New Orleans, join us! It’s a powerful way to support community access to information. If you can’t make it to the April Call-A-Thon, reach out to me about other ways you can be part of the process: nolaresourceguide@gmail”

Want to support with funds or a boost? Donate to or share our fundraiser to help print copies and translate the guide into Spanish.

All links where links are - and also via our website at www.imaginewaterworks.org.

See you at #TheImaginationFarm!

Spring is Springing and #TheImaginationFarm has been so full of life! Over the past couple months we’ve been cleaning up from the winter freeze, distributing the last of our water containers + storage shelves, and getting the farm ready for gatherings and hurricane prep.

Mutual aid center / farm work isn’t always sexy. We struggle with folks using our property to dump wild amounts of construction trash, tires, etc, and it can take months (and sometimes money) to remove… so we’re trying creative solutions to see what sticks. Shoutout to Jenna for making a shiny new “No dumping, IWW lives here” sign, and to Ali and Olivia for beautifying our front space in hopes that folks will be less likely to dump there! We’ve also weathered a couple of break-ins and lost valuable farm supplies in the process, so we’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be stewards of this land — and how to care for it and protect it while also having it always open to the public. We’re here for the challenge.

We’ve always said that Imagine Water Works is a community trust fall and an experiment in doing things differently and seeing if it works. It doesn’t mean that we assume we’ll find one solution and everything will always run smoothly, or that freezes won’t happen, or that social inequities will cease to exist. It means we see clearly and we stay grounded and we keep creating a better world together anyway. With that, the farm continues to teach us lessons in adjusting and trying new things through tough moments (while also providing a lot of healing too!), and that’s exactly why we wouldn’t choose to do disaster work anywhere else.

Anyway, this post was longer than intended. We’ve missed y’all, and we’ve missed being as active on social media as we’ve been in the past. It turns out, getting your hands in dirt often feels better than the internet, and is a really nice way to recover from storm season 😉

On Trans Day of Visibility, we are still here and still visible. What’s that mean to us? It’s meant doing the work and doing it publicly in a highly militarized and emotionally charged space (disaster work, y’all!), despite the risk.

Over the years, while serving all of southern Louisiana, we have advocated tirelessly for protecting and resourcing trans folks through storms, climate crisis, and COVID-19. We have: verified community power map locations as safe for trans people, released trans-specific hurricane preparedness tips, resourced trans youth and artists before a storm hits, distributed hair clippers to alleviate gender dysphoria, created a trans-safe workplace with policies to match, employed trans staff and contractors, paid over a dozen trans artists and farmers, directed thousands of dollars to trans folks in crisis, pushed the city and nonprofits to serve and resource trans folks with transparency, verified whether storm shelters are safe for trans and nonbinary people, published articles on trans care and emergency management… and advocated for the autonomy, safety, and dignity of our trans community on podcasts, in universities, during interviews with local and national media, and everywhere anyone will listen.

We will continue.

If you’d like to support our work today, please spread the word and donate either through Venmo or our website. Your support is crucial as we get our community and #TheImaginationFarm ready for another hurricane season.

🏳️‍⚧️ Shoutout to our founder, director, board and staff from the past year — all who identify as trans or nonbinary — for keeping us going!

🏳️‍⚧️ Copies of the “Queer/Trans Guide to Storms”, featuring advice and pieces from 20+ LGBTQ artists, can be purchased through our website.

Call to action from the Building Community Not Prisons Coalition who are working to stop the construction of FCI Letcher in eastern Kentucky: We have a 45-day window to mobilize public comment and delay the project – a proven strategy that works!

We know that prisons (1) DON’T keep people more safe and (2) DO increase environmental vulnerabilities. Letcher County suffered devastating floods during the summer of 2022. Housing needs in the region remain unmet, and flood risks remain significant, with one study noting that Letcher County has the country’s highest risk of inland flooding. In the 2022 flood, water inundated all roads and bridges to the proposed prison site, making it completely inaccessible by land.

The construction of FCI Letcher would pose urgent risks for local residents and ecosystems and for people subjected to criminalization and incarceration in the federal prisons system. “It is time to transition away from systems of mass incarceration and mega-infrastructure projects. Together, they increase our vulnerability to the social and ecological harms of climate instability, over-imprisonment, and environmental destruction,” says Emily Posner, General Counsel at Voice of the Experienced.

Swipe for ways to get involved, including a virtual teach-in and how to submit a public comment.

@nonewletcherprison

SUPPLIES DROP at #TheImaginationFarm (2718 Painters Street / swipe for recommended route): DampRid to soak up extra moisture from the flooding yesterday (DM us to claim/reserve), empty water containers for storm season prep, New Orleans Community Resource Guides, storm prep checklists, mutual aid info

If you identify as queer or trans, we also have free copies of the Queer/Trans Guide to Storms set aside for you. DM us so we can tell you where to look 🙂

*Easy porch pickup any time, though we recommend daylight hours!

Are you at the Creating Change / @thetaskforce conference this week? There are several ways to catch Imagine Water Works, as we seek to bring our people into the room and remove silos between LGBTQ justice and climate justice.

Tomorrow! Catch our Founder and Executive Director, Klie, on the plenary panel about trans justice across movements, moderated by @houseoftulipno’s Mariah Moore and emceed by @raquel_willis. Friday, three folks from IWW’s team (Déja, Ida, Klie) will be opening the queer climate workshop, led by @queers4climatejustice. And Saturday, Klie joins @nolawater’s Executive Director, Jessica Dandridge for a river “walk and talk” about this land (including the water!) and their experiences as native New Orleanians doing water, climate, mutual aid, and disaster work.

*Tickets to the conference are required to attend, but we’ve already run into many of you today, so we hope to see you there!*

Big shoutout to @queers4climatejustice for all of their work on bringing climate to the forefront. Swipe through for other events you shouldn’t miss at Creating Change, including their film night tomorrow, showing “Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines”, and Friday’s “Queers Against Fossil Fuels” solidarity action with @sunrisemvmtneworleans.

Happy Friday, QTs: “A Queer/Trans Guide to Storms” is available for preview/purchase online NOW! (Link where the links go.)

This body of work is a joyful and informative, high quality, 64-page zine with pieces from 25+ LGBTQ folks of all ages and genders – and it’s a truly healing read for anyone, regardless of where you live, how you identify, or what storms you’ve been through.

More about the project: In preparation for hurricane season, we wrote, drew, painted, recorded, cooked, and photographed “love notes” to the land and to our LGBTQ community, incorporating storm prep tips throughout. The result was this zine and a new take on emergency preparedness, combining local art with intergenerational knowledge and emergency management expertise, to help each other through whatever storms may come our way. Every artist, healer, writer, educator, and creator who submitted a piece (1) identified as LGBTQ; (2) lived in Southeast Louisiana; and (3) had prepared for a local flood or storm in the past.

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*Approx $6 of each purchase helps cover the cost of paying artists for their work. The rest goes toward printing, shipping, and fees. There’s an ISBN (looking at you, schools and libraries!). If your group/org would like to place a bulk order, contact klie@imaginewaterworks.org.

If you identify as LGBTQ, live in the New Orleans area, and couldn’t make it to our zine release event, we have a free copy for you! DM for info on how to pick one up from #TheImaginationFarm (off Franklin Ave).