In recorded history, two storms as powerful as Hurricanes Rita and Katrina have never hit the United States in one season. Katrina's storm surge impacted a region from Grand Isle, LA to Mobile Bay, AL, killing 1,836 and destroying or heavily damaging 300,000 homes. The costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, Katrina, alone, is responsible for over 80 billion dollars in damage. People lost their homes, their livelihoods, their families. Government response was . . . well, a disaster unto itself far larger than this article can hold.
CAP began assistance when people fleeing the devastation arrived at the Civic Center. A year and a half later, we are the main recipient of diabetic testing supplies donated by Bayer, and our efforts are focused primarily at directing medical relief supplies to the clinics trying to keep people well enough to put their lives back together. These clinics report a crisis in the availability of medical personnel, numerous people without health insurance, rampant staph and skin infections, and worsening of respiratory, heart disease and diabetes conditions, due, in large part, to the incredibly high stress. Many people are still living in the woods, sheds or vehicles, over 100,000 in mold-ridden FEMA trailers. The death rate among the elderly has increased 50%, along with suicide (15%) and attempted suicide (80%).
Besides medical management crises, other difficulties plague storm-damaged communities—
--No affordable housing; exorbitant rental costs;
--Shortage of skilled construction workers (who can't afford the cost of living), leaving the labor burden on volunteers and owners;
--No affordable child care. Very little child care at any price.
--No transportation without a working (not drowned) vehicle;
--Insurance refusal to pay on policies;
--FEMA requirements that can make a home owner have to choose working on their home over working at a job. If they are not moving forward aggressively on rebuilding, they will loose the (trailer) roof over their family's heads.
--Slow, inequitable distribution of funding; "nightmarish" bureaucracy.
We have plenty of needy people here in our own back yard. Shouldn't we be aiming our efforts here?
Need is everywhere. How to pick one over another? Is one cause "needier" than another? Is it "nobler" to work on the problems of the homeless here in America or to start a school for girls in Africa? Is our neighborhood our responsibility or is Birmingham? Is America our backyard . . . or the world?
Perhaps the criteria should be to choose where there is a passion or ability to champion. CAP engaged in this work out of responsibility towards the people in our BJCC, and our unique position in the community spurred a generous response to a request to come to their assistance.
We found ourselves the custodian of an overwhelming number of items, everything from toothbrushes to towels to food and water. When those particular refugees here no longer required the items, we felt we should honor the community's intentions by making sure their donated goods got where they were desperately needed.
From there, we discovered the challenges involved. When Internet communication came back on line, we were able to establish relationships with people at ground zero and get feedback. We participated in developing a grassroots network to match needs with resources and transport. So, we gained expertise; now we have a responsibility to use it.
Unexpectedly, our relief work has directly affected CAP's mission in a positive way. Since Katrina, we've received thousands of hits to our website, the majority motivated by interest in hurricane relief updates. Many have lingered to see what CAP is and what downtown Birmingham is about.
We work on local homeless issues daily and keep our primary focus on our mission of safety downtown. We couldn't do relief work at all without the community's support and encouragement. Because CAP funds are designated for safety issues in our district, contributions--financial, in-kind, and volunteers--have sustained our efforts. Without them, we would have stopped long ago.
Are we done yet? We wish we were. We wish things were all tidied up, and we don't know for sure how long we will continue, but...we're not done yet.
