Six Months Later, Katrina's Wounds Unhealed
Commentary by Pete Domanovic
Former Homeless Grapevine staff writer Pete Domanovic moved to New Orleans to help its citizens after the destruction of the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005. He shared his experiences and observations of post-Katrina life in New Orleans with Grapevine staff through a series of phone calls and emails, which are reproduced in excerpted form below.
December 25, 2005
I came into New Orleans about one month ago, with the intention of finding work. I have never witnessed so much corruption and mismanagement in my life. The police department during the flood had to commandeer about 200 Cadillacs from a dealership because their cars were flooded. They're just having trouble explaining why they were in places like Houston, Tex., and Mobile, Ala. The housing shortage: motels within a fifty mile radius that normally charge $40.00 are now charging $100.00 + $40.00 per extra person. One flea bag hotel here is charging $60.00 per night for a bunk with 4 to a room.
The only shelter in operation in New Orleans right now is run by the St. Vincent DePaul Society, the name is Ozanam Inn. Before the flood, the shelter housed about one hundred men, and fed about 400 to 500 people per day. Today it houses exactly seventy-six men, about sixty who are on the street. They have freeze nights here where the National Guard is assigned to handle the overflow. The only problem with that is, the shelter does not take in the extra people. It took me a while to figure out why.
The people who do the actual work(cleaning, desk-clerk, cooking, etc.)are needed to make the place function. As missions and Salvation Armys across the country know, suffering people can be made to work, and suffer indignities and abuses, without pay, for the necessity of room and board. The food here is usually horrible. They do have quality food donated on a daily basis, but it is put away and never seen again.
New faces appear everyday, and disappear the next. They came here to work, and quickly found out that it's not going to be the way it is supposed to be. FEMA has a hiring and work freeze, because of a lack of funds. Contractors hired and worked people, some for up to six weeks, left them without pay and stuck with the hotel bills. Since most of the contractors were from out of state, there is no authority here that seems to care. They no longer feed the people living outside, even though they have five walk-in coolers and three storage rooms filled to capacity. They say it is because they don't have the help(at the time of this writing, they have eight kitchen slaves and feed between 15 and 20 people).
Outside in the back, they have a big white box that contains 20 military cots. They loaned 20 more cots to a church that normally houses about five woman per night. When I asked why they don't take in the extra people on the freeze nights, they told me it was because they loaned out the cots.
Money here has never been mentioned. Not that you will ever get them to talk about it. Since I work in the front office, I personally have written receipts for several five and ten thousand dollar checks and countless other checks, none less than one hundred dollars. Those are just the ones I've seen, and I work 10:00 pm to 6:00 am...
Just got back from evicting a mentally unstable person for not being in his bed asleep. That crime has earned him denial of services for thirty days. I have to do as I am told completely without feeling, or else I will be sleeping in the street myself. When I do take a job, I myself will be denied services for thirty days. Somehow, compassion is a big money maker for people completely without compassion. As long as there are people out there visibly suffering, people will donate. Well, it's Christmas day, and I have to wake everyone up to leave by 4:30am. God bless and happy holidays.
January 17, 2006
I'm at the FEMA headquarters, a downtown New Orleans public library they commandeered. They won't let us near the books for some reason, so we have to use the standup computers.
It's cold and rainy today and the homeless are huddled up in doorways, some with their bicycles roped to their leg so it doesn't get stolen when they become unconscious. There is no such thing here as a place to keep warm & dry. If you don't have money to spend, tough. Price gouging is rampant: six dollars for a beer, eighty dollars for a room still under construction, fifteen dollars for breakfast.
But some are in luck. A labor pool is making an attempt to run a bunkhouse. The two weeks I had spent there I was able to shower twice; no hot water though, and sometimes muddy water. The best food was a bag lunch for only five bucks. Lettuce sure wilts fast here. Now I am at a shelter in Baton Rouge. It's another attempt at a workingman's shelter. They want you to put money in savings, but absolutely refuse to give you a receipt, and will put you out on the street for asking why. My last laundry day was in New Orleans and I'm waiting to wash in Baton Rouge to get the stink out. But then again, the water smells funny in Baton Rouge, too.
January 20, 2006
It seems like they're sending back the old homeless everyday from Houston, or wherever. When they get back, they go into a motel room until they have a FEMA evaluation. I guess when FEMA finds out that they were just staying in a homeless shelter, they'll be right back on the street. Right now there are more panhandlers on Bourbon Street than people to give them money...
This place could really use a working man's shelter right about now. I knew someone who owned 400 bunk beds and was interested, but she balked at the thought of having to rebuild the rear staircase at her own expense. The income potential would have been $14,000 gross per week, and the staircase would have cost between $30 & $50,000; why do people not have vision?
January 31, 2006
I'm now in Huntsville, Ala. I stayed dirty too long walking around those streets, and the motels just got too expensive. I can probably get to the library in Huntsville on the weekends to check my e-mail. While I'm here I am going to straighten out my driver's licence. That would be about time. They have a working mission here, and I should be able to accumulate enough money to take care of what I need. Talk to you later.
February 15, 2006
I'm in the buckle of the Bible Belt right now. The closer you get to that, the more you can feel exploited. I'm making $4.40 per hour right now, and that's one of the better jobs available. I'll try to call you sometime this morning. Someone stole my last phone in New Orleans.
Copyright Homeless Grapevine Issue 75 March-April 2006 Cleveland, Ohio.