Open Hearts, Open Homes

This is the true American spirit.

Yahoo News: Americans Open Homes to Katrina Refugees---

ATLANTA - Every night since Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast, Fredia Rainey has been glued to the tragic TV reports on the rising death toll and the thousands of people left homeless by the storm. Finally, the worsening situation reached a tipping point in her mind. The least she could do, she figured, is make available a spare bedroom in her west Georgia home.

"I have space and people need help. That's just it," said Rainey, who is offering the bedroom for $1. "I can't just keep crying when I can reach out and help people."

Across the nation, people like Rainey are offering up their homes as temporary shelters to the storm's refugees. On the Web site craigslist.org, hundreds of people — some from as far as Oregon and New Hampshire — are eagerly offering free or extremely cheap room and board for victims, even knowing those strangers may stay for months.

God bless these people.