Volunteer Resources in Hancock County

Not black or white – the problem or the solution

Kathleen Johnson 4/13/07.

Kathleen Johnson is a long term volunteer who has been working in Mississippi since just after the storm. Currently Kathleen is Director of Katrina Relief an organization she started after arriving in Mississiippi – it is under the umbrella of the Waveland Citizens Fund a registered 501 ( c ) 3.

Mr. Bush was wrong. Most of the poor here in the south are not black or brown. They are young and old, white, single and female. They are not on welfare – they either hold jobs or are living on a fixed income. What they do not have now is a home - they are homeless.

It has been 592 days since Katrina made landfall and exposed our nations vulnerability in responding to a disaster that covered an area the size of England. On a governmental level – the response rallied from an appalling lack coordination to some semblance of an acknowledgement of the possibility of an issue forced there by the national press. The media were clamoring for nightly news more than a concern for the half million people wallowing in the stinking filth of the muck and mire left by the waters of Katrina.

The President addressed the Nation on September 15th, 2005, and touched, briefly, in the third portion of speech and actually got to the root of the problem. He timidly waded into the waters of addressing an embarrassing issue in the United States today – poverty. From the luxury of Jackson Square, in New Orleans, President Bush said “We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action”. He alluded in that speech that the issue was related only to ethnic heritage.

The new class of poverty – young single parents.

Young single women, black and white, are working, for the most part, struggling to pay day care, and struggling to meet the most basic of living expenses all the while working at basic wage jobs. Even the artificially locally elevated wage scales of Katrina can not begin to meet the cost of living expenses in this southern society. There is no way for the young single women, with children, to rally above the day to day cost of living to purchase a home – they are left to flounder in a market where the basic two room apartment is renting for approximately $1,500 per month, expected utility costs of $200 plus per month, and Day Care running from $750 to $1,000 per month per child - and we have not yet addressed the cost of automobile insurance and maintenance, nor a telephone. All-the-while they are dealing with an ever increasing aggressive FEMA caseworker who is demanding a long term recovery plan while threatening imminent eviction or waving the flag of August once a month as they reevaluate their FEMA trailer lease agreement. August is the FEMA imposed deadline here for those in trailers. Where is it that these Case Managers from FEMA would like these women to go to find this housing solution? Rentals are rare, deposits high, and discrimination is subtle, sophisticated and the locals are in denial that discrimination exists at all.

The elderly homeless now in poverty

A fixed income, without the umbrella of a home, has left a huge portion of the elderly white community here in the south in the clutches of poverty. The home, now destroyed by Katrina, was the safety net for this now vulnerable population. Alzheimer’s, dementia, and disabilities were held in abeyance as long as the housing remained static – something Katrina dealt a cruel blow to. The infrastructure for supporting the elderly and disabled was fragile or non existent prior to the storm – now it is fractionalized or non existent. New housing regulations call for elevated homes. Most are still waiting on Phase I and Phase II grants which are going to be paid out proportional to the insurance they had on their property. In the case of Phase II they will be further penalized by income. Lifts for their elevated homes are $6,100. Elevation costs for homes in this area are up to $38,000 with homes required to be built up as high as 23 feet - with some of that covered by grants. I am seeing grants from Phase I of the MDA grants, for entire homes, from as little as $4,000 total. Little consolation for the fixed income disabled widow.

Lack of application of Building Codes

Not all the housing lost in Katrina was the result of Katrina. Many homes survived Katrina – many of those that did not were a result of the lack of application of current building codes during construction. In the county here – there was no building code and the residents built to the best of their ability with income defining the structure specifications. In fact – many of the homes were in appalling shape prior to the storm and fell like a deck of cards at the first wind puff let alone the ensuing flood. The replacement homes are grandiose compared to what stood in its place prior. If they can be replaced at all. There are 350,000 homes to refurbish or rebuild.

Rebuilding Manpower Resources

The funding for re-building was never meant to replace the home – it is barely enough to replace some of the materials. Labor, the largest portion of the rebuilding cost, is expected to come from the volunteer response. The government is not contributing to the cost of housing or feeding of volunteers let alone marketing for more – that cost is expected to be absorbed by the faith based groups coming to the region. This cost is crippling the church groups who are now forced to charge volunteers from $15 to $20 a day to cover cost of overhead – food, utilities, and local transportation. This is inhibiting the volunteer base as no longer can lure volunteers based on a promise free accommodation and meals.

It’s all about poverty

The “new” poverty that is – those left homeless by Katrina. Both young and old – black and white. Those that were in poverty prior had been abandoned as the lost children by the greatest nation in the world and ignored for generations. The new class of poverty, brought to the platform by the storm, may change all that. They have a chance now to promote their plight through the eyes and ears of the thousands upon thousands of volunteers who have come to the region and who will come over the next five years and more.

There is no instant solution to the plight of the half million residents affected by this disaster. Someone is going to be first and someone is going to be last to finally get back into a home – whether it be by ownership or renting.

Its been 592 days since Katrina made landfall – some people have been living in their cars, sheds, and gutted out homes since that time despite the fact there were supposed to be FEMA trailers for all. And for those in the confined space of FEMA trailers – that would be like your family of five living in an area the size of the average bathroom for a 592 days.

Yes, we have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. And the establishment needs to become much bolder - the Gulf Coast is in desperate need of more skilled volunteers and more funds. This "problem" is not fixed because it is out of the eye of the national news media. This is a ten year plan at the very least but no one wants to deal with that reality yet - its a national embarassment this response to Katrina. Its a national disgrace that we are dealing with poverty in the United States at all.