Clergy Summit in New Orleans
NETWORK received an invitation to take part in a Clergy
Summit in New Orleans, March 16-18, 2006. NETWORK Lobbyist Marge Clark,
BVM, was able to take advantage of this opportunity. These are her impressions.
Don’t Forget New
Orleans
Introduction
On Thursday evening, March 16, over 100 clergy and faith-based leaders
gathered at the St. Jude Center on Rampart Street – on the fringe
of the French Quarter. Each of us was responding to a call to
- see and listen,
- raise awareness to keep the plight of the people alive, and
- act in solidarity with the people of Louisiana, including advocating
for needed legislation.
The administration persists in broadcasting that “things are
returning to normal” and that “ New Orleans is rebuilding.” The
reality on the ground belies that perception. Six low-lying areas continue
to show evidence of how badly they were hit by water gushing through
breaches in the Industrial Canal, 17 th Street Levee and London Avenue
Canal. In some areas there was standing water several feet deep for weeks.
Many organizations are calling for all of the emergency supplemental
funding for Gulf Coast reconstruction to go to New Orleans. I learned
while there that New Orleans had received about 60% of the December funding
although it had received over 90% of the damage.
What We Saw
We toured Lakeview, Pontchartrain Park, Lake Shore West, Upper Ninth
Ward, Lower Ninth Ward and Gentile, each severely damaged by wind and
flooding. Although water never topped the levees, pressure caused breeches.
Homes and businesses were punctured by trees, windows were blasted out,
and some houses crashed into others as they were tossed off their foundations.
Water marks remain can be seen several feet high on walls, and mold grows
abundantly. Thousands of buildings can be rehabilitated, but only if
they are gutted before weather and mold do further damage.
 
In the areas we visited, every building requires gutting to the studs!
Only about 20% of this work has been done, all without assistance from
the federal government. Crews of volunteers, mostly college students,
come and spend days throwing out the contents of homes, tearing wallboard
and insulation from the studs. This is the only way to salvage the shells
of homes. Refrigerators are taped before being tossed to the curbs, as
opening would release bacteria into the atmosphere. They sometimes open
when being moved, and one sister described the smell as, “the worst
pig farm I have ever been on.”
As warmer days approach, fear of epidemic rises. For health and safety
the gutting should be finished and refrigerators deeply buried.
Every building is marked with a large X. The markings on the left side
of the
“X” designate the group that checked the building, the top marks
the date, other notes might be on the right, and the bottom notes the number
of dead bodies found there. It was a sad sight. Some homes had been checked as
many as three times, each with a different notation.
No family has received any federal money for assistance
with gutting or renovation. Those who had the “right” insurance have received,
on average, 8% of the value of their homes. Those without insurance have
received a maximum of $2000 from FEMA for emergency needs. Insurance
companies are denying payment from flood insurance where they say the
damage is from the wind of the hurricanes, while at the same time denying
payment from homeowners’ insurance when the damage is from flooding.
Those who have lost documents proving their previous rental status have
often received nothing from FEMA.
Still, families struggle to gut the home, repair the roof
and begin to make the structure livable again.
We saw a few FEMA trailers, the first of which arrived in February.
The limit for their use is 18 months – counted from Aug. 29, 2005.
Many of these trailers were delivered without keys, and with no electrical
or water hook-ups.
 
The Lower Ninth Ward lies near the breaks in the Industrial
Canal and is the most devastated. The few homes standing are no longer
on their foundations, and most cannot be repaired. Many retired people
lived there, and the haunting question is: Where can they find
affordable housing if they return to New Orleans?
What is Needed
Hope is one great need.
Glimpses appear in a variety of places.
A young streetcar driver provides a helpful analogy to riders: Think
of the time it takes for a body to heal after surgery. Now, consider
the time it must take to heal an entire city. The analogy is not perfect
because after surgery the patient has many supports. So far, New Orleans
lacks adequate support systems.
Housing is a desperate need, but it is only one of many critical needs.
- Only one of New Orleans’ seven hospitals is fully functioning,
another has some services available. And there is no timeline
for if/when others might reopen.
- Thousands of businesses were ruined, and the employees have no work.
- Transportation is severely hampered. All the streetcars on the Canal
Street line were destroyed, as were tracks on the St. Charles Avenue
line.
People need work; they need to be paid. And businesses
need workers. However, rents on available apartments anywhere in the
city are roughly three times what they were before the hurricanes, and
these high costs limit the number of people able to return. There are
some jobs to be had, but pay is not sufficient to cover the expense of
living nearby. Reconstruction workers’ pay has fallen over the
months, so those with other options have left the area. Until there is
massive rebuilding of housing, nothing will return to normal.
People of the Gulf Coast need assurance
that meeting their basic needs is a vital concern for the nation. Fewer national legislators have spent
time in the devastated areas of the Gulf Coast than have gone to Iraq.
This is a serious concern as they have not given themselves the opportunity
to be touched by the reality. Key senators, especially those leading
committees with oversight of the rebuilding, have not been there.
Among the most important are Senators Kit Bond (MO), Thad Cochran (MS)
and Bill Frist (TN). Their constituents need to immediately urge them
to spend time in the devastated areas to learn for themselves what the
people are experiencing.
Coastal Protection
People are hesitant to rebuild, lacking confidence that the levees
will hold through this hurricane season. The area needs a steady source
of revenue for ongoing upkeep of the coastal area – whether that
means construction of larger levees or some more drastic, environmentally-sound
approach to the river.
Off-shore drilling has devastated the coastal environment, for the
sake of economic activity.
Other states get 50% of the tax
revenues paid to the federal government from oil and gas produced on
federally owned land. Louisiana should be receiving the same percentage
of the tax revenue. This would allow ongoing support of environmental
protection.
What Positive Things Are Happening
I am mostly familiar with two major organizations working to meet the
needs:
- PICO: People Improving Communities through Organizing – working
with ACT (All Congregations Together).
- Catholic Charities, USA
The Clergy Summit was organized by PICO:LIFT (People Initiating Community
Organizing: Louisiana InterFaith Together) and ACT (All Congregations
Together).
Those of us who participated committed to:
- learn from our own observations,
- heighten awareness of the state of the areas affected by the hurricanes,
- use congregational leverage to urge congress to act more swiftly
to help families in the area, and the environment.
PICO:LIFT and ACT have held meetings in six neighborhoods.
These “Days
of Declaration” called for resurrection of the areas and for officials
to listen to families about how their communities should be rebuilt.
They have developed “asks” of every level of government involved
in the rebuilding plans. And they have met with and brought officials
at every level into the meetings.
They have also listed their RIGHTS:
- the right to self-sufficiency
- the right to good schools and health care
- the right to return
- the right to have a say in the how/what of rebuilding
- the right to hometown security
- the right to long term federal investment in communities
- the right to coastal restoration
- the right to community policing
- the right to fair pricing of dwellings
Selected Resources
Rebuild Louisiana
www.piconetwork.org/index-1.html
This site contains links to many resources, and is updated regularly.
Key Gulf Coast Housing Provisions
www.piconetwork.org/page.jsp?itemID=29071297&print=t
Suggestions from PICO for supplemental appropriations for housing.
Rebuilding New Orleans: Housing and
Neighborhood Planning Platform
www.piconetwork.org/linkeddocuments/Rebuilding-New-Orleans-Platform.pdf 
This
platform was presented by PICO-LIFT, representing groups of residents
from six areas of the city which were devastated by Hurricane Katrina
and the resultant floods.
PICO LIFT: Covenant to Rebuild Louisiana
www.piconetwork.org/katrina/RebuildCovenant.pdf
Rebuilding the Bayou Areas
http:/www.trac4la.com This
site gives several ways in which individuals and groups can help with
the coastal areas outside New Orleans that have been devastated.
Power Point presentation on the March 16-18 PICO
delegation
www.networklobby.org/NewOrleans.ppt  (You will need Microsoft Power Point, or Powerpoint viewer to see this file. you can get the viewer for free here.)
photos and commentary by Marge Clark, BVM
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