So far I have reviewed four families who hired contractors to do work but who took the money and disappeared. Yet, I’ve seen people coming down to volunteer their hands and feet and have brought $500, $1000 or more to use to assist families who are rebuilding. I think the good still outweighs the bad.
I do not use the word “poverty” often or lightly, but you have to appreciate the relative poverty that many of these people find themselves. One may walk into a home and realize there is flood damage but also recognize it is hard to tell sometimes where the flood damage stops and the wear and tear of a home long neglected due to lack of money begins. Their homes often are not as well maintained as our garages.
Driving into Gulfport on US 49 one is struck by the contrast of new, large and brightly lit billboards advertising free drinks for gamblers, highest payouts on slot machines, professionally designed golf courses, an evening with Liza Minnelli or some other theatrical notable, and homes only a few blocks from the new casino on the coast standing empty and severely damaged while the owners live with relatives or in FEMA trailers. It is hard to accept without feeling anger, or guilt.
You can drive west a mile or three and discover story after story. I worked on one lady’s home replacing a kitchen. We had to call the local gas company to cut off her gas so we could remove her stove that was rendered useless by the salty surge of Katrina. She protested almost to the point of tears out of her fear of not being able to afford to pay the gas bill because the gas company charges $20 to cut service off and $20 to cut service on.
The framing in the walls of her house are spaced 24 inches or more. The standard is 16 inches. When we removed the soaked drywall, you could see through the exterior siding since there is no insulation in her wall.
Forgive me, my friends, for harping on our largess. Let us try to walk a mile in her shoes the next time we have the urge for a new cell phone, hall table or tickets for the symphony.
There is poverty in America and the call for the good Samaritan in us all echos across this land.
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