Road to New Life After Katrina Is Closed to Many

[snopes]

For thousands of evacuees, going home to New Orleans has become a vague and receding dream. Living in bleak circumstances, they cannot afford to go back, or have nothing to go back to. Over the two years since Hurricane Katrina hit, the shock of evacuation has hardened into the grim limbo of exile.

http://www.theledger.com/article/200...YT02/707120538

[Elkhound]

The answer is to pull up your socks and build a new life for yourself elsewhere, and displaced persons have for generations. Refugees after WWII came to this country with little more than the clothing on their backs not even speaking the language, and most of them did pretty well for themselves here; and their children after them. NO refugees are at least (mostly) US citizens who speak the language; it should be a lot easier for them.

[kismet]

Originally Posted by Elkhound

The answer is to pull up your socks and build a new life for yourself elsewhere, and displaced persons have for generations. Refugees after WWII came to this country with little more than the clothing on their backs not even speaking the language, and most of them did pretty well for themselves here; and their children after them. NO refugees are at least (mostly) US citizens who speak the language; it should be a lot easier for them.

Oh, come on. Did you read the article? Have you met any evacuees, or visited the places where they now live?

The people who are having the most trouble are very poor people who survived day-to-day by relying on networks of friends and family, networks that have been scattered. They have been dropped off in environments that don't have public transportation, and local employers are unwilling to hire them. Many of these people are older and not necessarily in good health. Their options are limited.

Maybe their children will have adapted and adjusted to the new location, but I doubt WW2 refugees were dancing and singing in the streets 2 years after being ripped from their homes and losing their family networks and everything they had known.

[Elkhound]

Originally Posted by kismet

Oh, come on. Did you read the article? Have you met any evacuees, or visited the places where they now live?

Yes. There are several living right in my neighborhood as a matter of fact.

Maybe their children will have adapted and adjusted to the new location, but I doubt WW2 refugees were dancing and singing in the streets 2 years after being ripped from their homes and losing their family networks and everything they had known.

Not dancing and singing in the streets, but I'm sure they knew that they were a great deal better off here than where they came from, and from what I have read and heard they concentrated on building a new life for themselves rather than mourning for the old.

[Griffin2020]

My question is this: How long is FEMA supposed to support the "evacuees"? It has been almost two years since the storm. That is plenty of time to (1)find a job, even if it is flipping burgers at a fast food joint, (2)begin to at least partially support yourself. [I have no issue with the government helping you if you are also trying to help yourself]

If they want to go back to NO, there are resources to allow that to happen. FDR developed this wonderful thing called the Interstate Highway System, that connects all of the major cities across the country. NO is even included in that, via I-10 and I-12.

[Christie]

Originally Posted by Griffin2020

My question is this: How long is FEMA supposed to support the "evacuees"? It has been almost two years since the storm. That is plenty of time to (1)find a job, even if it is flipping burgers at a fast food joint, (2)begin to at least partially support yourself. [I have no issue with the government helping you if you are also trying to help yourself]

If they want to go back to NO, there are resources to allow that to happen. FDR developed this wonderful thing called the Interstate Highway System, that connects all of the major cities across the country. NO is even included in that, via I-10 and I-12.

If you have no car and do not have the means to buy one all the wonderful interstates in the world aren't going to be much help.

Anyway, I thought the article made it pretty clear why most of these people are still needing help. Just one example:

JoAnn Anderson needs a job.

She has filled out applications and taken drug tests. She has asked people who are already employed for help. A hotel housekeeper for 22 years in New Orleans, she has called every hotel and motel in the hotel and motel section of the Memphis Yellow Pages. They are not interested.

“I keep calling them back,” Ms. Anderson said. “Once I get started working, I know they would like me because I know I do my best and I do my job. I want to work. I don’t want to just sit around getting my bones all old and everything.”

Ms. Anderson, 53, and her longtime companion, Jeffery Evans, 52, are in the category of people for whom recovery is furthest from reach. Near the end of their working lives, unappealing to employers, yet financially unable to retire, many are on the brink of ruin — or will be when their federal disaster assistance runs out.

[Hero_Mike]

Originally Posted by Elkhound

The answer is to pull up your socks and build a new life for yourself elsewhere, and displaced persons have for generations. Refugees after WWII came to this country with little more than the clothing on their backs not even speaking the language, and most of them did pretty well for themselves here; and their children after them. NO refugees are at least (mostly) US citizens who speak the language; it should be a lot easier for them.

Maybe they should wander the streets until they find someone with a Mason's ring who would graciously help them.

No, wait, they're not dying. Oh well. Move along now. Nothing to see here.

[Mickey Blue]

Originally Posted by Elkhound

The answer is to pull up your socks and build a new life for yourself elsewhere, and displaced persons have for generations. Refugees after WWII came to this country with little more than the clothing on their backs not even speaking the language, and most of them did pretty well for themselves here; and their children after them. NO refugees are at least (mostly) US citizens who speak the language; it should be a lot easier for them.

Right, we have such a massive poverty problem in general, and so many of the Katrina victims are still suffering, purely because they are too lazy to "pull their socks up" and get things handled.

I'm sure having no car, no mass transit, living away from majorly populated areas, being already poor (meaing no savings and such), and more then likely lacking education play no part in that, no, just lazyness..

Originally Posted by Malruhn

Poor JoAnn. She doesn't want a "job" - she wants a "job that meets all of her expectations and requirements." Okay, so housekeeping jobs are full - try applying to be a phreaking WAITRESS. I would bet that McDonalds is hiring as well. If she always does "her best" and wants to work, within a year she could be on her way to management.

That's something that has always bothered me. People claim they want jobs, but then set their standards so high - or put so many deliminators (or Eliminators) that they can't work. Kind of like my sister who bitches that she can't find a man... but there is only one Jude Law in existance, and he's taken... but she still bitches and won't change her standards.

If you NEED a job, there is work out there. It may not be pretty, and it may not be in what you WANT to do, but it is a job.

She looked for all sorts of jobs including fast food and found none, besides being a maid is hardly what I'd call respected work, its not like she's ruled out everything but being a manager at an electronics store..

Originally Posted by Griffin2020

My point exactly, Malruhn. Wal-Mart is hiring...Wal-Mart is ALWAYS hiring. They may not have the highest pay or best benfits in the world, but they do pay, and they do offer insurance and other benefits.

I work in IT. When the Tech Sector crashed here, I could not find a job in IT. Did I say screw it, and sit around expecting the government to pay my way? Of course not. I went out and got a job waiting tables. A paycheck is a paycheck, and there is no job "below your dignity".

Odds are when the market crashed and you (presumably) lost your job or couldn't find one you had some savings, obviously had education (certainly a BS, maybe an MS) and probably a support network of friends and parents/family that could help you if push came to shove (maybe you ultimatly didn't need it, but itw as there), you also may not have been a single parent (I honestly don't know one way or the other) and probably had a car or some other reliable mode of transportation.

Thats pretty different, but hey correct me if I"m wrong.

Originally Posted by Hero_Mike

Maybe they should wander the streets until they find someone with a Mason's ring who would graciously help them.

No, wait, they're not dying. Oh well. Move along now. Nothing to see here.

This still always cracks me up

-MB