Rev. Dorothy Boulware, Afro American Newspapers, Sep 08, 2005
<http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=243aada450633 692f8dfad35977b933a>
Many small towns and cities in the Gulf Coast areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina still have not received the assistance they need, although there has been more activity in the past two days than previously, according to Vanessa R. Williams, executive director of the National Conference of Black Mayors.
"Millions of people were impacted and it's ongoing," she said. "It's unbelievable that people could survive the vestiges of a hurricane and then die from dehydration and malnutrition."
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) shares her frustration, recently calling for Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to step down.
"The failure of FEMA was a failure of leadership. It's time for Michael Brown to leave, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Let's bring in someone who is a professional at emergency management," Mikulski said in an issued statement. "If FEMA cannot respond to a hurricane that was coming for days, with warning after warning, what will happen when an unexpected terrorist attack happens? Or a sudden earthquake?"
Mikulski said the people of the Gulf Coast have been doubly victimized: "First by Hurricane Katrina, then by their own government."
And therein lies the work taken up by the National Conference of Black Mayors. The 30-year-old organization is helping bridge the gap between what people need and what has been supplied.
"We set up a victims' fund to assist with needs for immediate resources and housing. People were paying ridiculous rates to stay in hotels, and that wiped out everything they had," said Williams.
This was a far cry from what they started out to do, which was to act as a liaison between FEMA and the affected mayors.
"The mayors would try to contact FEMA, but their cell phones would die and that was their only means of communication. So they asked us to intervene," Williams said.
But she was told by FEMA that the only way the mayors could get help was to fill out the proper paperwork.
"When I tried to fill out the forms for them," Williams said, "they told me I wasn't an authorized city employee and they wouldn't accept them from me."
She and her staff were "dumbfounded."
Williams said they realized that no one was going to "help us if we didn't help ourselves. If this is what God's called us to do, we'd never turn away from the call."
So she sent out a cry for help, and local mayors formed teams to make sure people's needs were met."The other problem is that many of the small towns were overlooked as everyone focused on New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile," she said. "So we began to purchase generators and speak with developers, asking them to donate apartment units so people could begin to rebuild their lives rather than remain scattered in shelters."
As for the impression that the folks who stayed were merely stubborn or unable to grasp the gravity of the situation, Williams says that was not always the case.
"I spoke to Dr. Jarvis, the director of housing in New Orleans, who said she felt responsible for the seniors in the complexes she managed, so she stayed to make sure they were safely evacuated," Williams said. "In doing so, she got left behind."
Jarvis recounted to Williams how she watched photographers pause to capture stranded residents without offering them water to drink.
"She told me she watched as helicopters selectively rescued White residents and passed over Blacks. When she finally was rescued, and after a 12-hour bus ride to Houston, with people standing the entire time, they were made to stay on the bus another 13 hours waiting to be checked by a doctor," said Williams. "This is terrible. I don't know who else would have been treated like this."
But Jarvis continues to work to help people get placed in permanent housing throughout the country. Williams had nothing but high praise for Baltimore's mayor.
"Mayor [Martin] O'Malley is beautiful," said Williams. "Not only on the housing piece, but when I shared with his staff what was going on, he immediately put a team and a caravan together -- police, firemen and equipment -- so they could assist us with the evacuation."
She said he got personally involved and sent his own resources.
"We appreciate that so much, and the work of all the mayors," she added.
Her main concern: Once the "hype" is over and media attention is diverted, "Will America still care?"
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