Local govt works while the feds twiddle their thumbs.
Move-out goal for evacuees: Sept. 18
Dallas: Mayors, church unite to give those in shelters homes, goods
08:30 PM CDT on Friday, September 9, 2005
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller joined New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and local religious leaders Friday to reveal an ambitious plan to get hurricane evacuees out of the city's shelters and into permanent homes by Sept. 18.
Blasting federal and state authorities for taking too long to respond to Dallas and other host cities' needs, Ms. Miller announced the creation of the Mayor's Disaster Relief Fund. The goal is to raise $3 million to pay for rent and utilities for the 1,500 evacuees still living in the Dallas Convention Center and Reunion Arena.
Each family will be adopted – and provided furniture, bedding, toiletries and other basic necessities – through a program organized by The Potter's House, Bishop T.D. Jakes said.
The federal government "kept telling us, 'Just wait, just hold on. Help is on the way,' " Mr. Nagin said Friday, in a heartfelt address to Dallas civic and religious leaders. "Help has arrived today in the city of Dallas. Your mayor, the clergy and the corporations that are coming together are doing God's work."
Ten days ago, Texans turned their stadiums, their convention centers, their recreation centers, and friends' and families' living rooms into "safe havens," Ms. Miller said.
To date, help from the federal government and the state has been hard to come by. And Dallas can no longer wait for it, she said.
"We have decided ... that we will do what the government cannot do," she said.
The Mayor's Disaster Relief Fund has raised $350,000 toward its $3 million goal – including $100,000 each from The Potter's House, Highland Park United Methodist Church, and the law firm Baron and Budd, where Ms. Miller's husband is an attorney. 7-Eleven Inc. announced Friday that it hopes to raise $400,000 for the fund selling Mardi Gras beads from its stores.
The fund will be used to pay for rent and utilities for evacuees still living in Dallas shelters, many of whom are looking for jobs and trying to get back on their feet, Ms. Miller said.
"They have lost everything," she said. "And they are the easiest to help."
On Sept. 18, The Potter's House will spearhead Project Exodus – an afternoon move-out celebration during which chartered buses and other vehicles will take evacuees from the convention center and Reunion Arena to their new homes.
It will be a mini-Mardi Gras, Bishop Jakes said – "minus the liquor, of course."
The 30,000-member Potter's House in Dallas will assign volunteers to adopt the families after they move in, providing them with everything from televisions to towels.
The crisis in New Orleans "has blown God's people together in an unprecedented way," said Bishop Jakes, whose church has already placed 700 evacuees in permanent housing. We are "turning anger into action ... and coming with help in our hands."
Mr. Nagin probably will become a familiar face in Dallas. Members of his own family came here during the evacuation, and he said he expects them to stay between three and six months – the initial phases of New Orleans' reconstruction. His 6-year-old is already registered for school in Dallas.
"I'll be going back and forth between there and Dallas," he said.
At Friday's news conference, he thanked his home away from home for giving his constituents – and his family – a place to rebuild.
"You're so organized, you're so caring, you're so generous," he said. "I can't tell you the support Texans have given us. I can't say thank you enough."
And Mr. Nagin, who has been highly critical of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina's survivors, gave a special nod to Ms. Miller and Bishop Jakes, thanking them for "busting through the bureaucracy" while, across the state, evacuees were "standing in the hot sun waiting for $2,000 vouchers from FEMA."
Between thanks, Mr. Nagin found his sense of humor at several points during the morning news conference. Pointing to his casual slacks and short-sleeve golf shirt, he said, "I would've dressed up – but all my suits are underwater at the moment."
Later, he warned the crowd not to get too comfortable with their new neighbors.
"We have sent you some incredible people, but you can't have them permanently," he joked. "Don't be trippin'."
For now, the fund and The Potter's House programs will focus only on the 1,500 or so evacuees living in Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center, Ms. Miller said. Depending on the response – and the funds – they could expand, she said.
And after 60 days of covering evacuees' housing needs locally, Ms. Miller said she expects the federal government to "pick up from there."
"Tell them, 'Let's not delay help anymore,' " Mr. Nagin said.
Staff writer Dave Levinthal contributed to this report. |
