It's been 16 months since Hurricane Katrina hit the south. The focus was on New Orleans, the largest city hit by the storm and what we all saw on television and in the news was unimaginable. This wasn't a third world country we were looking at, this was in our own backyard.
Obviously, everyone was appalled by the lack of initial response by the government. But in hindsight, I feel it is typical of the Bush Administration. When you hear of the rebuilding efforts or catch the occasional photo, it's pretty likely that it'll be a picture of the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Bob Herbert of the NY Times has written several columns regarding Katrina and its continuing downpour on its victims. The water may be gone, but the drowning feeling remains. Here is an excerpt from his Dec.21st column, "America's Open Wound".
"In mid-September 2005, with parts of the city still submerged and soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division on patrol, President Bush made a dramatic, flood-lit appearance in historic Jackson Square. In a nationally televised speech he promised not only to do all that he could to rebuild the Gulf Coast, but also to confront the terrible problem of deep and persistent poverty.
“That poverty,” said the president, “has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action.”
Now, more than a year later, the population of New Orleans is less than half what it was before the storm. The federal government has allocated billions for the city’s recovery but much of that money has been wasted or remains hopelessly tied up in the bureaucracy. Very little has gotten to the neediest victims, the people who were poor to begin with and then lost their homes and their livelihoods to the storm.
...Many of the poor residents in the city feel that they’ve been abandoned by the government and the rest of America, and that the president broke his promise to help. “We’re in terrible trouble down here,” said a woman named Delores Goode, who stood outside the Superdome asking passers-by if they knew where she might find work as a baby sitter. “We were all over the television last year. Now we’re back to being nobody.”
But it isn't just New Orleans that got hit hard. Remember, that this hurricane was so large, it effected Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Katrina's size was approximately 90, 000 square miles. That's the size of Great Britian. An earlier Herbert column from Dec. 18th was focused on Baton Rouge, LA. and a trailer camp run by FEMA called Renaissance Village.
From "Out of Sight", Bob Herbert:"More than a third of the 1,200 people in this sprawling camp are children. Only about half of the school-age youngsters are even registered for school; of those, roughly half actually go to school on any given day. The authorities can’t account for the rest.
A number of officials who asked not to be identified told me they are concerned that large numbers of children are remaining isolated at Renaissance Village, holed up in the trailers day in and day out, falling further and further behind educationally, and deteriorating emotionally.
Leah Baptiste, a caseworker from a local affiliate of Catholic Charities, said: “These trailers are small. They were only meant for traveling. And you’ve got families with three and four children cooped up in there seven days a week, 24 hours a day, with no privacy, no babysitter, no job, no money — there’s a lot of help they need. Some people have learned to adapt, but a lot are depressed.”
The most critical needs for the trailer camp population are housing and employment. Many of the adults at Renaissance Village were working before the storm but have been unable to find work since. Even the lowest-wage jobs in the Baton Rouge area are scarce, and without cars (in some cases, without money even for bus fare) it’s extremely difficult for Renaissance Village residents to get to them.
...The big story in the immediate aftermath of Katrina was the way the government failed to rush to the aid of people who were obviously in desperate trouble. What we’re witnessing now is an extended slow-motion replay of that initial failed response. Thousands of people remain in trouble, but instead of clinging to roofs and waving signs at TV cameras in helicopters flying overhead, they are suffering in silence, out of the sight of most Americans.
The government could have come up with a crash program to build housing and find or create jobs for the victims of Katrina. It could have ensured that all those hurt by the storm received whatever social services they needed, including mental health counseling and treatment. It could have begun to address the long-festering problems of race and poverty in this country.
The government could have come up with a crash program to build housing and find or create jobs for the victims of Katrina. It could have ensured that all those hurt by the storm received whatever social services they needed, including mental health counseling and treatment. It could have begun to address the long-festering problems of race and poverty in this country.
The government could have done so much. But it didn’t."
I know many of us get depressed reading stories like this. I know I do. But turning the page or closing our eyes doesn't make it go away. So I continue to read and research, I give what I can to organizations that are trying to make a direct difference.
Some of us give to the local animal shelters, which is fine, I think it's a wonderful thing. Yes, puppies and kittens are cute. But the people in places that no one talks about, like the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they are our fellow human beings.
Some of us give to the local animal shelters, which is fine, I think it's a wonderful thing. Yes, puppies and kittens are cute. But the people in places that no one talks about, like the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they are our fellow human beings.
I'm an avid listener to the Mike Malloy Show, as those who read my blog (all three of you) will know by my posts. There is a regular caller to the show that goes by the name of "Sarge". I hear Herb "Sarge" Phelps at least two to three times a week on the Malloy program alone (I'm sure he calls in on other shows). He has the will of a thousand people. He pushes on, hoping someone will hear him and respond.
One of the organizations Sarge touts is the Jackson County Community Services Coalition, in Jackson County, Mississippi. Jim Yancey, its Executive Director, is hands on and there isn't much bureaucratic red tape. He helps families directly in need.
Here is an example of what the JCCSC does: The Leroy Johnson Story
According to Sarge's site updated on Dec.20th, "In 10 days to 2 weeks thanks to... listeners from Head On Radio Network and Nova M who donated money to Jackson County Community Services Coalition and others, like the women from Mississippi Home that have selflessly contributed by putting aside their lives to come help, Mr. Johnson will be moving into a new house built by the Jackson County Community Services Coalition."
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