Replies to '09/12-13 Hurricane Katrina: Rescuing the Rescuers and Rebuilding'

I have worked at the Astrodome in Houston, helping storm survivors since the Thursday before Labor Day.  We have received nothing but overwhelming appreciation and gratitude from the people we have served, and many of our city's guests (that's what we call them, by request of our city's wonderful Mayor), have moved out of the shelters into apartments, started new jobs, and enrolled their children in school.  Many of the folks in our shelters - storm victims - have become volunteers at the shelters, just to find a way to give back some of the help that we've given them.  I'm sure there are some "welfare sucking" people in the thousands of people Houston has welcomed to our city - they exist in every city in our country.  I haven't encountered anyone like this, and everyone has been incredibly patient and accommodating during the process of getting so many people resettled for the time being.   

I am very embarrassed and dismayed at the raw bigotry I am seeing on this board.  These people didn't choose for this to happen, nor did they choose to be poor.  Yes, the looting and the chaos at the Superdome was horrible - but how do we know how people in our cities would behave in similar circumstances?  We do not have an "equal opportunity" in this country - in every city, schools in low-income areas are underfunded and provide a much lower level of education, and low-income people do not have access to higher education (even many middle-income families cannot afford university education for their children).  Poor families do not have access to stable living environments, they struggle for food, the list goes on.  Yes, there are people who live off the system, and believe that they're entitled to benefits.  But - it is not fair to paint everyone in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with the same brush.  The poor people from New Orleans are mostly low-income working people - taxpayers like you and me.  There are plenty of middle and upper income families in these areas who are trying to gain assistance from FEMA and the Red Cross, as well - it's not just the poor who are expecting assistance from the government....which we all pay for with our tax dollars.  I am very sad for the hateful people on this board who think that this horrible disaster is "good" for the people of New Orleans, and who feel that they don't deserve help right now. 

And, by the way - I'm a white, educated, professional. 

There are two sides to every story though.  We don't know for sure that the people given houses were welfare people.  Even if they are, we don't know WHY they were on welfare.  You can't really judge people you don't know until you've heard their story.  I once stayed in a shelter for 3 weeks because I was homeless, and I'm a  good, hardworking person at heart who doesn't like to take anything from anyone.  I'm saying, it happens!  Good people can be down on their luck!  Are there people getting stuff now who don't deserve it?  Probably.  But my guess would be that most of them do deserve it.  And in any case, doesn' t any decent person who has gone through a huge trauma deserve some help?  It is hard to know how traumatizing it is until you go through it yourself. 

I'm just saying I don't agree with anyone on this board who goes to the far extreme in their criticism and stays ONLY with that outlook.  We don't really know, so I think the others said it best: just be happy that people who need it are getting help!  

Some people will find ANYTHING to complain about!  If you want to complain, complain about the OBVIOUS wrong things: rape, looting, murder!! 

Wow you are gifted...not only can you see into the future and you can read the minds of all the millions of people who give to charity. I"m impressed.