The similarities in the lives of Shawna Doremus and Judith Kaufman were coincidence.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Working to organize Wednesday's rally in Washington, D.C., are New Orleans evacuees Judith Kaufman, left, and Shawna Browne Doremus. On the couch are, from left, Ms. Kaufman's daughter, Hanna Lurye, 16, and Ms. Doremus' children, Conor, 4, buried beneath the pillows, and Siobhan, 14. Click photo for larger image.

Both grew up in the South Hills, moved to New Orleans and met through their children, three apiece. Both their houses survived Hurricane Katrina with minor damage, but the flood from Lake Pontchartrain inundated their children's schools, so both returned to their childhood homes and enrolled their children for the academic term. Both their husbands remained behind, trying to get their small businesses back on their feet.

Now the two women have intentionally joined forces on a project dear to their hearts. They are organizing evacuees for a rally in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday -- the same day that Congress reconvenes to take up the supplemental appropriations bill that could fund the rebuilding of New Orleans.

The goal: to remind the nation's leaders that the New Orleans diaspora is still out there, and that its members want the levees to be rebuilt so they can return home and reconstruct their lives without fear of another flood.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has thrown her support behind the rally and helped the women select the optimum date. Their permit for the rally was finalized Wednesday.

Sen. Landrieu has threatened to keep the Senate in session until it approves a $35.4 billion relief package that would fortify the city against a Category 5 storm, rather than Category 3 as proposed by the Bush administration.

The two local organizers also are reaching out to the entire congressional delegation from Louisiana, and e-mailing everyone they can think of to spread the word about rallying at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, at 11 a.m.

"The idea came up because Judy and I are in limbo," said Ms. Doremus, daughter of the late Post-Gazette columnist Joe Browne, from her mother's house in Whitehall.

"Living here, we haven't been able to contribute to the rebuilding. So we thought hey, we're 4¹/₂ hours from D.C., there's important legislation regarding funding of the levy system going before Congress next week. We thought we'd put some human faces to the issue.

"We've gotten good press in New Orleans, but it's hard for people there to get to Washington. So we're trying to reach evacuees in the Northeast because it's easier for them to get to D.C. We really hope people will attend the rally and keep the issue front and center."

Ms. Kaufman, who is staying with relatives in Green Tree and Mt. Lebanon, said those who remain in New Orleans are despondent, believing their leaders have forgotten about them.

"My husband is alone down there. The city is depressing and difficult to live in, and not having his family makes it even worse. We figured we needed to do something to put pressure on the federal government and ignite public awareness on the lack of progress."

Both families will be going home in mid-January, when their children's schools are scheduled to reopen. But the women are worried that many others who would like to return will be afraid to do so until the levees have been fortified to a degree that makes rebuilding a safe investment.

"I've heard a few people say New Orleans is below sea level, it shouldn't have been there in the first place. But it's been there 200 years. What are we doing to do after the next earthquake hits San Francisco, just leave it? We're supposed to be taking care of each other.

"If the Netherlands can protect their country from the ocean, surely the United States of America can protect New Orleans from a lake."