CatComm Update: Last Day to Vote!

CatComm Update: Last Day to Vote! 12/11/2009

The following is the latest update from CatComm regarding their attempt to win $25,000 to help folks in a poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro to resist the destruction of their community. Read on for more, then take time to vote. It's free and will may help people have a voice in what happens to their homes and families.

The boys in this picture are from Vila Autódromo (click on them for a full slideshow with captions), and despite the city of Rio´s determination that their peaceful, model, community should be removed to make way for the Olympics (without any opportunity for public comment) they are hard at work preparing the building materials for their fathers to continue improving their homes. I´d like to share with you a quick update on the Chase Community Giving Competition, which ENDS TODAY. If you´ve had trouble voting, please keep trying. If you haven´t yet, please VOTE for CatComm. If necessary please try until you succeed and let us know as the application has been problematic. But the reward is worth it: $25,000 for us to train over 200 community leaders from across Rio´s favelas in social media and develop an online hub where their stories will be told in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympics. Also: don´t forget to send us a screenshot or let us know when you vote to be entered into our raffle for a free trip to Rio to see our work in person, should we win! Here´s more information we´ve compiled this week on the communities at risk from the Rio Olympics:

CatComm´s Olympics training initiative is currently featured in Dissent Magazine. In 'Is Rio de Janeiro Ready for the Olympics,' Bryan McCann, the head of Georgetown University´s Brazilian Studies Program, talks about the importance of Catalytic Communities´ plans to train residents from Rio´s communities adversely affected by the Olympics.
Berkeley´s Wendy Sinek published her letter of support for CatComm´s ROAR (Rio Olympics Accountability Reporters) project explaining why this project is so important given Rio´s circumstances and her research findings.
We have prepared a slideshow that introduces you to what´s happening in Vila Autódromo (please read the captions), a peaceful community and the first slated for removal to make way for the Olympics, so far demarcated for removal without opportunity for public comment.
Community testimonials from Vila Autódromo can be watched in Portuguese on our YouTube Channel.
Click here to watch my update about this Cause in a short video on YouTube.
We have met with the city councilwoman responsible for the city´s Master Plan and in February will begin seeking out officials from the Mayor´s office to bring voice to communities at risk. More on this then.

Thanks to everyone who has pulled together over the past few months in the hopes we can win these online voting competitions and raise the funds we need to implement our social media trainings! It´s been incredible to see so many people mobilized, and mobilizing in such creative ways. The Chase winners will be announced next Tuesday. We´ll let you know if we made it and what the next steps are then. Finally, if you´ve voted you should have some extra votes left! Please consider voting for some of our friends, too (they are asking their voters to do the same): WiserEarth (NCI) | Kabissa--Africa | Atlas Service Corps | YouthVenture Thanks again for all your support! Warmly, Theresa Williamson & the ROAR Working Group www.catcomm.org

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