Katrina Turns the Poor Into the Destitute
Hurricane Katrina Turns the Poorest of America's Poor Into the Truly Destitute
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Sep 23, 2005 — Before Hurricane Katrina, they were among the poorest of America's poor. In the hardest hit counties, some 305,000 people not only lived in poverty, their families' income fell below 50 percent of the poverty line about $7,500 for a family of three. Now, many live in strange towns with only a few dollars in their pockets.
They've become a new class of poor, one that makes the old class look well off by comparison. They have not only lost their jobs and their homes; they're also isolated from family and friends, putting them at great risk for depression and substance abuse.
"When you have no assets to start out with and no savings to rely on, and then your income stream is disrupted, something that might have been poverty with extreme hardship shifts into desperation," said Isaac Shapiro, a research analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank.
For some evacuees, however, Katrina and the attention it brought to America's urban poor may give them the opportunity to break free from the cycle of poverty, other officials said.
With about 1 million people fleeing the Gulf Coast again this week, there is the potential for more poor to join the ranks of the devastated. Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall Saturday between Galveston, Texas, and the Texas-Louisiana border.
The challenges of helping as many as 900,000 displaced households as a result of Katrina fall on a number of federal agencies. The Health and Human Services Department oversees programs that provide health care and cash assistance. The Labor Department oversees job training programs. The Housing and Urban Development Department oversees voucher programs that subsidize the cost of housing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has distributed over $1.5 billion in federal aid to more than 717,000 households.
Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at Health and Human Services, said the federal government can help ensure that people get basic necessities, but it will take help from the private sector, namely civic organizations, churches and schools, to help the more destitute survivors recover.
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