Sounds a little harsh, eh? Well, I'm ticked off.
Nancy's brother and his wife,
Robert & Ronna, live(d) in New Orleans.
They evacuated their house before the storm hit. They've now been on the road for about a month. Their house has sustained flood damage, and they cannot go home yet to even assess their property. As college professors in the city of New Orleans, they have lost their jobs for the forseeable future because their schools cannot open. They have a son in his 2nd year of college and are still paying tuition despite the disaster, in addition to existing bills and mortgage. They're digging into their life savings in order to live day to day - spending money on gas, hotels, food (always more expensive on the road). They are staying with friends whenever possible. And very importantly, Ronna had major surgery about a month before the storm and is still recovering...
Let's recap:
- Good citizens, evacuated when told
- Have spent several thousand dollars to live on the road for a month
- Have lost a major source of income
- They are homeless
- Property is damaged & uninhabitable
- Recovering from major surgery & needs medical assistance & supplies
Ready for this?
They requested medical assistance from the Red Cross for Ronna's condition & medical supplies - and were TURNED AWAY because they are not living in a Red Cross shelter.Can you believe that?
They have gone out of their way to not be a burden on the relief system, to only ask for truly needed medical assistance,
and were denied.The Red Cross has been designated as the primary relief agency in this disaster - with millions, if not billions of dollars coming in earmarked for Katrina victim relief.
What is the Red Cross doing with those donations if they're only putting it toward people in their shelters?
There are MANY MORE VICTIMS living outside Red Cross shelters than in them. Why are victims being denied assistance? I thought when I donate to the Red Cross that moneys & assistance got to victims who need it -
who knew there was a policy that penalizes people for being responsible in the face of a disaster?I think this is
AWFUL. So does Nancy, even more than I do.
We feel we people should know that although the Red Cross is willing to take donations in the name of Katrina victims, it is also WITHOLDING assistance from Katrina victims --- and that if people have donated intending to help victims in situations like Robert & Ronna's, that their contributions are not being used for that purpose.
That is
WRONG.
Does anybody out there have any suggestions about to whose attention to bring this?
I'm sending a link for this blog entry to the Red Cross, to see if they respond with an explanation, or offer of assistance. Maybe somebody there can clarify how Robert and Ronna can be helped. If not, I'll start inquiring with media outlets to see if they're aware of this situation, and how people have been dealing with it.
Also on the topic of Katrina disaster management and assistance, C. S. Thomas, Managing Director of CACH International Ltd Co, Business Continuity and Crisis Response consultants notes this situation in a posting to the Yahoo Finance Discussion board - see points #6 & #8:
Uncensored from the NOLA Front
