Do Katrina Victims Deserve Our Help?

Since I launched my fundraising appeal for the Katrina survivors earlier this week, I have heard from lots of people, most of whom are sending some money to one of the five groups listed at the bottom of this post. But I also seem to have inadvertently triggered a debate about whether the storm victims deserve any more support at all. Today, I reprint once again a letter from “Brian,” who argues that Katrina survivors are not worthy of further support.

His letter angered those working on the scene, two of whom ("Reilly" and "J")sent me their comments for publication:

Brian writes:
David:
The US government has done more per capita for victims of Katrina than any other disaster in history. They do not need any more help. It's time to move on to other victims who need and are more deserving of our help. Our funds are not limitless and we cannot make every person whole who has suffered a loss. It is the responsibility of each individual to plan for disaster by buying insurance and setting aside funds for unforseen needs. By bailing out people who fail to provide for themselves you are only creating more future victums.

***

Reilly writes:
Please urge those who think that LA and MS have gotten rich on Katrina to read the first report from Amy Liu that is accessible by this link.

Amy Liu Report

It spells out how the overwhelming majority of the federal aid went straight back into the federal agency budgets, and a very small percentage has gone directly into the local communities, and an even smaller percentage has actually gotten into the pockets of people whose homes were slabbed, businesses were bankrupted, and lives were turned upside down, AND KEPT THAT WAY FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF NOW. Please invite any skeptics to take some masking tape outside and measure out 8 feet by 30 feet rectangle. That is what close to 90 thousand people in MS are living in, 3 to a FEMA trailer. And inside this space, get them to place a kitchen, toilet, bed, refrigerator, heating/ac unit, and a table. Then have a FEMA person come by every few days to demand that they show how they are getting out of the trailer and into the rental market, when well over half the apartments in the area have been destroyed.

***

"J" writes:
To your less than sympathetic reader, I would ask that he walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before judging what people deserve and don't deserve.

How can poor people get educated in a school system where the quality of learning has been diluted over so many generations that even many teachers don't realize how poorly their students are performing? Then, try living every day in a neighborhood where it is unsafe to leave the house; not only because the neighbors struggling to survive sometimes sell drugs, but also because the police are mean as junkyard dogs and don't like the looks of you.

Then, grow up and get a job at Wal-Mart, work long hours and make minimum wage. Don't get sick, because they don't pay you enough to afford their health insurance. If you do get sick, make sure you understand that by going to the free clinic, you could be jeopardizing your job. Between the bus ride and the long wait to see a doctor, it will take all day. Hopefully they'll give you a prescription you can afford to fill, because you'll have to go back to work the next day. There are plenty of people just like you waiting to take your job.

Let's assume that you are a normal human being who aspires to have at least a single child. You'll have to find a way to pay for childcare, that would be a minimum of $50 per week, even if it's subsidized, making your yearly bill around $2600.

This comes straight out of your $10,000 annual paycheck. You won't have a bank account because you will never have enough money for a minimum balance, so you'll have to find other options for financial services. Those services will undoubtedly be predatory lending options like check cashing services and pawn shops where you will be charged 800% for the privilege of being able to pay for new shoes for your child. (Why did you ever have children to begin with, don't you know you're too poor?)

If you're really lucky, you'll find a partner who has a minimum wage job at the dollar store. That will bring your yearly income up to somewhere between $15,000-$20,000 per year. Hopefully they won't do anything like get a credit card and charge up a storm of stuff in your name, or worse yet, get sick themselves. It sure is a good thing that your Aunt owns a successful neighborhood beauty shop and grosses a $20,000 a year, because sometimes you can borrow a couple of dollars from her, when you run out of money for milk. Anyway you slice it, I sure hope you like rice and beans.

If you're really lucky, you have a little piece of land that's been in the family since your great great great grandfather managed to get it after reconstruction. But the rickety little shotgun shack that you used to call home was in low lying land (because that's where all the poor people live) and the Hurricane came and swept it away, leaving it, and everything else you own garishly on display for all to see, hanging wet and moldy, 25 feet up in a tree.

Of course, you stayed during the storm, because you didn't have a car or the means to leave. So you've been feeling really shaky for over a year now. You know it's not good to feel this way, because you've seen three of your extended family members die in the past year, and you're pretty sure it's the stress that got them. There's no where to really go, so you just have to suck it up in your 30" FEMA travel trailer with the kid and maybe some cousins who have nowhere else to go.


So now, it's been over a year since the storm. You've managed to get some used stuff from the relief organizations. Good thing there's not really that much stuff to get, because you can only fit so much in a FEMA trailer, and the kids’ toys take up most of that space.

And I'm sure by now you'll really understand when someone tells you that you don't need any more help. You understand that funds are not limitless, while you watch our government waste money like it's no big deal. (And you know firsthand about how FEMA really screwed up this relief effort, giving aid where it wasn't needed, or wanted, and neglecting large populations where it was).

I know you'll understand that you really should stop feeding your family so that you can set aside some money in hopes that some day you might actually be able to afford another place to live, and the insurance rates that will save you in the event of the next storm (assuming the insurance companies start writing policies down here again).

Try living this life andd see how you feel. But for the kindness of strangers, there would be no hope alive here at all.


***

Please visit the links below to five grassroots organizations that deserve our help this holiday period:


1. Back Bay Mission is an interfaith effort working on recovery, homelessness, and affordable housing advocacy. This group, which has a long history (since 1922) of social justice work in and around Biloxi, helps the most vulnerable people that few others can seem to reach. There is a convenient online form for donations, or you can contact the organization at:

Back Bay Mission
1012 Division Street
Biloxi, MS 39530
Tel: (228) 432-0301
Fax: (228)374-2922
Email: backbay@datasync.com

2. North Gulfport Community Land Trust
Rose Johnson
4803 Indiana Ave.
Gulfport, MS 39501
Tel: 228-863-3677
You can read more about this remarkable group and how it is trying to rebuild a once vibrant African American community in the wake of Hurrricane Katrina:

http://www.greenrelief.net/article.php?id=346


3. Mississippi Center for Justice
Katrina Recovery Office
974 Division Street
Biloxi, MS 39530-2960
Tel: (228) 435-7284
Fax: (228) 435-7285

The Center maintains a Katrina Victims Legal Relief Fund, that attends to both immediate and long term legal needs, including:

* A grandmother now caring for her grandchildren and needing legal guardianship
* Children who have special needs getting access to essential services in their new schools
* Insurance being denied because companies deem damages caused by flood not hurricane
* Families losing their homes because they can't access their bank accounts
* Veterans not getting their medical and other benefits
* Elderly homeowners being scammed by predatory lenders
* Families needing to file for bankruptcy protection
* Newly disabled individuals who need help getting SSI benefits
* Immigrant workers displaced from jobs at poultry plants and casino hotels



4. Moore Community House (childcare and family services)
P.O. Box 204
Biloxi, MS 39533-0204
Tel: (228) 669-4827
Email: INFO@MCHBILOXI.ORG

This local institution, which was damaged in Katrina, provides childcare and family services to people in Biloxi. Its website mentions that one donation of $2 arrived with a note, "I just wanted to help." The group answered: "We're so grateful for every gift -- together we'll rebuild East Biloxi."

5. Coastal Women for Change
336 Rodenburg Ave
Biloxi, MS 39531
Tel: (228)-297-4849

I've posted about this group several times, and their eloquent pleas for help for the poor in Biloxi. Please see: New Appeal From A Forgotten Coast and Plea From Biloxi for more details. The group makes it easy to donate online via PayPal.

-30-