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It takes a

NA IONhow strangers became familyin the wake of hurricane katrina

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how strangers became familyin the wake of hurricane katrina

It takes a

NA IONTe Story o MoveOn.org Civic Actions HurricaneHousing.org

edited by laura dawn

photographs by c. b. smith

foreword by senator barack obama

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Earth Aware Editions17 Paul Drive

San Ra ael, CA 94903www.earthawareeditions.com

415.526.1370For orders, call 800-688-2218

or visit www.earthawareeditions.com

Copyright 2006 MoveOn Civic Action. All rights reserved.No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written

permission rom the publisher.

Library o Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 1-932771-19-0

Palace Press International, in association with Global ReLea , will plant twotrees or each tree used in the manu acturing o this book. Global ReLea

is an international campaign by American Forests, the nations oldestnonpro t conservation organization and a world leader in planting trees or

environmental restoration.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

BOOK CREDI SCompiled and Edited by Laura Dawn

Photographs by C. B. SmithInterview eam:

Annie Nocenti, Daron Murphy, Pete Nelson, Mark Huntley, & Laura Dawn

Editing eam:Laura Dawn, Sabin Streeter, Annie Nocenti, Pete Nelson, Daron Murphy

Copy Editor: Cree McCree

Earth Aware EditionsPublisher and Creative Director: Raoul Go

Executive Directors: Michael Madden, Peter BerenAcquiring Editor: Lisa Fitzpatrick

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Production Manager: Lisa Bartlett

Printed in China by Palace Press International

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FOREWORD

by Senator Barack Obama viii

PREFACE by Eli Pariser, Executive D irector,

MoveOn.org Civic Action x

INTRODUCTION by Laura Dawn,Cultural Director,

MoveOn.org Civic Action xiv

INBOX : Te HurricaneHousing EmailTat Started It All xvii

the midwest

Southside Chicago, Illinois 2

Chicago, Illinois 8

Columbus, Ohio 14

the west

Phoenix, Arizona 20

Han ord, Cali ornia 24Hollywood, Cali ornia 28

Los Angeles, Cali ornia 33

Hermosa Beach, Cali ornia 34

Burlingame, Cali ornia 37

Berkeley, Cali ornia 38

the south

Glencoe, Alabama 44

Austin, exas 49

Marietta, Georgia 50

Marietta, Georgia 58

Kennesaw, Georgia 61

Athens, Georgia 62

Duluth, Georgia 68

Stone Mountain, Georgia 72

Austin, exas 76

Dallas, exas 82

Dallas, exas 88

San Leon, exas 93

Katy, exas 94

the east

Washington, D.C. 104

Montclair, New Jersey 108

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 111

Hoboken, New Jersey 112

New York, New York 118

Brooklyn, New York 124

AFTERWORD

by James RuckerExecutive Director, Coloro Change.org

124

RESOURCES 131

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 132

contents


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v i i i

O ver one-and-a-hal centuries ago, it was amously observedthat, America is great because Americans are good.In the days ollowing Hurricane Katrina, this greatness was

called into question. Our governments slow and stumbling re-

sponse le t people across the country wondering why we couldntseem to save a major Americancity rom drowning. We wit-nessed rsthand the poverty andhopelessness that had batteredthe residents o New Orleanslong be ore Katrina ever did.

And yet, as is o ten the caseduring times o great tragedy anddespair, it was the undamental de-cency o the American people thatquickly shone through. An out-pouring o compassion and sacri-

ce saved the stranded and housedthe homeless and gave hope to theGul Coasts survivors.

On any ordinary day, I know it seems di cult to detect thisspirit o selfessness at work. We turn on the news or open thepaper and see stories o g reed and corruption alongside tales o want and despair, hunger and poverty. Te stories may give us

pause or make us angry, but inevitably most o us soon returnto our busy, orderly lives.Ten an event like Katrina happensa crisis that shakes o

our complacency and re uses to let us ignore the su ering in ourmidst. Suddenly, were reminded o how very ragile li e is.

Were reminded o how theres nothing inevitable about be-ing able to turn on the tap and ll up a glass o water or return-ing to a dry house with a sturdy roo . We realize theres nothinginevitable about the ood we eat, the clothes on our backs, or

the medicine that keeps us alive. And we understand theresnothing inevitable about leaving our children in the morningand expecting that well see them again at night.

As we were aced with li es ragility in the days ollow-

ing Katrinaas we were reminded that everything we take orgranted is not always granted toeverybodyI think that Ameri-cans everywhere began to imag-ine what it would be like to livein New Orleans or Biloxi or Gul -port, what it would be like to seethe place you grew up lying inruin, what it would be like to see

your childhood neighborhoodsunderwater, to see your homeand your possessions and every-thing youve worked or washedaway without warning or reason.

I think that moment o imagining and the action that

ollowed is when we became a national community again. Itswhen people rom Chicago and Houston, acoma and Charles-ton, Boston and Denver picked up their phones and called acharity, packed up their cars and headed to the Gul , or readied

the extra bedroom or the arrival o complete strangers whocould stay as long as they wanted.Most o ered this help not out o pity or guilt, but em-

pathythat simple, pro ound notion that I can see the worldthrough another persons eyes. Tat allows us, just or a mo-ment, to imagine standing in someone elses shoes.

From the beginning, this idea has been at the very center o the American experiencethat despite our melting pot o racesand backgrounds and belie s, we still eel a responsibility toward

foreword

how strangers became familyin the wake of hurricane katrina

By Senator Barack Obama

c

each other. Tat there are some things we just cant do on ourown. Its what brought together white and black, rich and poorto march together and ght together or civil rights. Its whathas sent soldier a ter soldier to risk their lives to save those o

people they never met. And its what caused the Americans inthis book to ollow the simple message heard in churches andmosques, synagogues and Sunday schools: to treat your neigh-bor as you would want to be treated yoursel .

Teres no way o knowing how long the surge o empathythat ollowed Katrina will last. In act, just months a ter the hur-ricane hit, its already become easier or the media and the pub-lic to ignore the stories were hearing about survivors still plead-ing with the government or trailers and ood stamps. But thegoodness detailed in It akes a Nation goodness we have seenand hope ully per ormed ourselvesproves that in this coun-try still lies the capacity or greatness. Te oral histories in this

collection show everyday heroes at work, as we see MoveOnmembers and countless other Americans welcome over 30,000strangers into their homes as neighbors and riends. It showsthe power this online community has to strengthen our nation-

al community, and it calls each o us to do what we can to ollowthis heart elt example.In the end, we will rise or all as a nation depending on our

ability to harness that spirit to do and care or othersnot justin response to a hurricane or a terrorist attack or a tsunamibutin response to the everyday Katrinas so many o our neighborsquietly and desperately live with. Its not as easy when the crisisisnt right in ront o our aces, but that doesnt mean its notthere, and it doesnt mean we can turn inward and ignore it.

America is great because Americans are good. It is a mes-sage youll recognize on the pages o this book and one I hopewe all try to live in the months and years to come. c


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W hen I dialed onto our 4 p.m. team phone call thea ternoon o Wednesday, August 31 st, it was onlynatural to start with the disaster that was rapidly un urlingin New Orleans. We knew MoveOn members would want to

help. But beyond a donation to the Red Cross, we werent surehow they could.

We tossed ideas around or a little while: New Orleans-themed house parties to raise money, with gumbo? A websiteto gather requent fier miles so that evacuees could reach their

riends and amily?Ben Brandzel, our Advocacy Director, jumped in: Teres

a housing crisis, right? And weve got three million members.Some o them, Im sure, would o er housing. What i we set upa website where olks can o er and nd housing?

At rst, I thought HurricaneHousing might be a mistake.Would olks really open their homes to complete strangers? Iwanted to believe they would, but with CNNs news ticker ullto capacity with reports o homicides and rapes, I didnt know.

We went ahead anyway. What else could we do? Goodpeople were su ering, and getting them into sa e housing assoon as possible had to be our rst priority. Adam Ruben, our

Political Director, began making calls to relie organizations.Ben began work on an email message to our members andOrganizing Director Justin Ruben began designing the systemitsel .

Around 10 p.m. that night, Justin nished a prototype ver-sion o the site, and passed it o to Randall Farmer and PatrickKanetwo crack technologists who would spend the earlyhours o the morning turning the idea into a working program.

At 3:05 a.m., early Tursday morning, Ben nished theemail message to send to our members. It said: oday, tenso thousands are being bused to a stadium in Houston, wherethey may wait or months. Almost 80,000 are competing or

area shelters, and countless more are in motels, their vehiclesor wherever they can nd. But i youve got a spare room, extrabed or even a decent couchyou may be able to help.

And at 11:12 a.mabout seventeen hours a ter the ideahad emergedour email went out to three million MoveOnmembers.

O ers o housing were beginning to trickle innot many,but a ew. We decided that i olks o ered a thousand beds,that would justi y the energy we were putting into the project.But would we get there?

Laura Dawn, who edited this book, began reaching outto olks in the entertainment world. By 4:35 p.m. on Tursday,R.E.M. and Pearl Jam had linked to the HurricaneHousing site.At 5:06, Moby, the Roots, and M V joined them. Actors JohnCusack, im Robbins and Rosie Perez dropped everything toquickly record Public Service Announcements to get the wordout about the website on V and radio.

MeetUp highlighted the site to its members. rueMajor-ity, another online advocacy group, sent the link out to olksFriday morning. JohnKerry.com highlighted the site. MySpace,the social networking website, o ered us a ree ull-page adver-tisement to help attract hosts in the Southeast, where most o the evacuees were stranded.

Gannett News Service put out a story about the initia-tive. Within hours o inception, www.hurricanehousing.org

preface

hurricane housing.org: how it all started

By Eli Pariser, Executive Director, MoveOn.org Civic Action

c

had dozens o housing postings. A college student in Starkville,Mississippi had room or two non-smokers. A amily in Na- varre, Florida could take two children who could go to publicschools there. Radio stations and V stations began running

the URL on the air, encouraging evacuees in search o hous-ingand potential hoststo go sign up.

Te number o postings was quickly increasing. Only vehours a ter wed launched the email, a ew thousand peoplehad o ered room or olks to stay. Te next morning, 8,777 hado ered 30,021 slots. In the critical states surrounding Louisiana,

olks were o ering beds at a rapidly increasing rate: 1,156 rom6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Friday, over 2,000 rom 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Tey were coming rom all over the country: a thousandplaces to stay in Austin, exas, 1,650 in Atlanta, Georgia, 1,196in Denver, even a thousand up in Boston. People rom all walkso li e were opening their homesrich and poor, Democratsand conservative Republicans who disclaimed MoveOn poli-tics but were grate ul or the opportunity to help anyway.

As the o ers kept pouring in, we realized our primarychallenge was swi tly changing rom supply to demand. Terewere hundreds o thousands o olks who needed housingbut

how to reach them?In the makeshi t shelters where most evacuees were stay-

ing, ew people had access to the web. Justin and Matt Ewing,one o our key eld organizers, had an idea: create an 800number to allow evacuees to search the listings by phone.

On Friday, a little over twenty- our hours a ter the site hadlaunched, olks had posted space or 51,000 people to stay, andwe started getting the rst reports o success ul connections.

Leon, an attorney in Atlanta, took in ten people who began ar-riving Friday night. Kim, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, heard aboutthe site on the radio, signed up and was preparing to host a

amily on Monday. A day later, there were over 60,000 places to

stay o ered by 26,196 individuals. In the end, there would beover 80,000 slots o ered.

At 7:52 p.m. on Saturday, the toll- ree number went live.By uesday, the operators were taking thousands o calls a day

rom evacuees who heard about it rom Red Cross casework-ers, V and radio stations, and word o mouth in the shelterswhere olks were staying. Even actor Sean Penn went on LarryKing Live and interrupted the interview every thirty secondsto repeat the 800 number.

When olks started emailing us to tell us that the servicewas working, we could have wept.

We were a bit unsure about letting complete strangersin our home, but my husband and I both elt that i weopened our home in the right spirit, God would bless usin returnand He has done so already! We were blessed to house a young couple, like ourselves, whose house wascompletely destroyed by Katrina. We have nothing but good things to say about them. Tey are RESILIEN . Every-

day, they are out the door trying to make things happen or them here in Dallas. Tey show us that li e really is about acing challenges head on. Amongst all their mis ortune,they still have time to smile.

James & i any, Dallas, exas

I am on HUD and I had to get permission rom the housing authority to house evacuees. My story is that the poor ishelping the poor. I dont have a dime so I couldnt help that

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way but I do have a roo over my head and a reezer ull o ood that I was willing to share in order to help out. I am glad that I could help.

Bryan, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Over the ollowing weeks, around 30,000 people ounda place to stay in someone elses home. Some provided a bedto sleep in or one night between point A and point B. Someevacuees are still in their hosts communities, rebuilding theli e that was lost in the food.

MoveOn.org started in 1998, the product o two so twareentrepreneurs rustrated with the gridlock in Washington. Tetheory was simple: using the Internet, bring real people tothe table in American politics, and hold leaders accountableto them. Our online organization started around a com-mon-sense appeal: to stop the Clinton impeachment that wasdistracting rom the business o the nation, censure him andMove On.

Te organization grew by word o mouth as Wes andJoans email was passed through networks o colleagues and

riends. A ter two months, almost hal a million Americanshad signed on. And in the seven years since then, wevegrown to serve over three million people across the UnitedStates.

Most o our members havent been politically involved be-ore; they wouldnt call themselves activists. But they love this

country and they share a determination to li t it up. On theMoveOn sta , we believe our job is to serve theto identi ythe ways they can have a voice and a say.

Until HurricaneHousing, this mostly meant weighing in

on legislation. MoveOn members wrote heart elt letters totheir members o Congress about campaign nance re orm;they held candles at vigils across the land to mark the losses o war; they called their representatives o ces to argue or media

re orm. In battles large and small, they provided a popularcounterweight to lobbyist-driven big money politics.

But in the ace o the national calamity o Katrina, theywent urther than theyd gone be ore. In the past, theyd giventheir time and sometimes, their money. A ter Katrina, theyopened up their homes and their lives.

O course, it wasnt just MoveOn members. From acrossthe political spectrum, others joined them. Some o the emailsthat moved me most were rom people who wrote disclaim-ers in their postings on the website, noting that they couldntstand our politics but they shared our inclination to help thosewho were struggling.

I Hurricane Katrina showed nature in its wildest orm,it also showed that a nation divided could come together totake care o people tossed to the wind. And i at the heart o democracy is the idea that were all responsible or each other,it showed that democracy is deeply alive in American hearts.

Hurricane Katrina produced many tears, but this book isnt just about them. Tis book is about remembering what endured.Its about the courage and generosity o taking in a stranger inneed. Its about the bonds orged in the heat o disaster. And itsabout remembering that in the ace o an act o God, Americansgave a biblical response: Love thy neighbor. c

Cots set up or Hurricane Katrina e vacuees at the Reliant Center in Houston, X.xii c


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I ve worked with MoveOn.org or about two-and-a-hal years now. Ive never had any particular sympathy withpolitical parties in act, I personally think the country wouldbe much better o without them. But I believe strongly in the

power o MoveOn.org and the growing movement to keep ourelected o cials accountable and in touch with the needs o everyday Americans.

Ive been lucky enough to work on many great projectswith MoveOn.org, but Ive never elt more honored than whileworking on HurricaneHousing.org and on this book. Watch-ing HurricaneHousing move rom idea to ruition in about twodays was truly like witnessing the ormation o hope.And reading the listings as they came in, each one an o er o shelter and sa ety, elt like being in the presence o a miracle.Being able to be part o that e ort was simply a blessing I willnever orget.

During the a termath o Hurricane Katrina, millions o Americans (mysel included) could not tear themselves away

rom the televised spectacle o thousands o evacuees clearly inconstant danger. Te national in rastructure that we thoughtsolid had ailed and many o us struggled with a kind o des-

perate collective guilt.When aced with the shame ul images o people in our

own country le t to su er and possibly die, what else can wecling to but the simple hope that our small collective e ortscan make a di erence?

Its easy to be discouraged. Its easy to ear that our dona-tions o money, time or space are just a drop in a vast insur-

mountable bucket. We need desperately to at least hope thatour giving is meaning ul.

I see no greater evidence o this than in the stories con-tained in this book.

One o the integral parts o Hurricane Housing.orgwas getting the 800 number up and running. Obviously, manyevacuees wouldnt have access to the Internet, so the 800 num-ber was key. But it also had an unintended e ect. Each day, theoperators would report, many times in tears, that the evacueeswould requently just talk to them. A ter receiving the neces-sary numbers and in ormation, they would stay on the phoneand just talk. And their stories were heartbreaking ull o details that no one saw on their V screens. Teir stories were

ull o courage and hardship; their stories begged or the kindo understanding that only arises rom one human being shar-ing their experience with another. Tey clearly needed to talkand our 800 operators ended up listening.

Te evacuees were also calling the operators back toreport something else: the incredible miracle that awaitedso many o them at their new homes with their host amilies.Tey reported communities banding together to help literally

save their lives. Tey reported that these virtual strangers whotook them in during their time o needacross cultural andsocio-economic lines, regardless o color or religionwerebecoming their amily.

When I heard this, I knew that we had to somehowdocument these stories. I immediately hunted down aphotographer and an interviewer who were ready to hit the

introduction

Laura Dawn, Cultural Director, MoveOn.org

road. From September 23 rd to October 6 th, 2005, photogra-pher C. B. Smith and interviewer Mark Huntley traveled thecountry in a rental car, staying in the cheapest possible hotelsand interviewing up to ve amilies a day. From my home o -

ce in Brooklyn, my good riendBernardo Issel and I workedevery day to keep them moving,searching through listings and

nding participating amilieswho wanted to tell their stories.

I have always been a big ano Studs erkelsWorking and its2000 homage by Word.com, Gig:

Americans alk About Teir Jobs .Both books relied on extensiveinterviews, but were edited into

rst-person narratives that letreaders experience the inter- viewees tales in a more direct

ashion.I edited It akes A Nation with this in mind, trying to let

each persons voice, vernacular and story ring through. For twoweeks in December, a small editing team (Sabin Streeter, PeteNelson, Annie Nocenti and Daron Murphy) and I edited andre-interviewed and re-edited around the clock. I shaped the

nal book or another two weeks, and by January 10 th, 2006, It akes a Nation was born. With an eye on getting this out as

soon as possible to continue to raise unds and awareness orthe evacuees, the project was taken rom conception to nish

in about three months. Ive presented their interviews withoutcommentary. As youll see rom reading this book, Americans,especially those reared in the great oral traditions o the South,have no problem speaking very clearly or themselves.

C. B. Smiths photographsare a revelation. Tese arenot simply portraits o thoseinvolved in HurricaneHousing.org; they reveal a new paradigmo the American amily andcommunity. Tey are beauti ulpictures o how and where welive, ull o the individualismand spirit that we can de ne asuniquely American.

Imagine, or a moment, that your home and everything init has been destroyed. Imaginethat you have nothing but theclothes on your back. Imagine

that this has simultaneously happened to your entire extended

amily. Where would you go? What would you do?Te survivors o Hurricane Katrina and the good olks

who helped them have something to say. In these stories,we can see that bonds have been orged, barriers have beenbroken down, and hearts have been opened in a way that justmight save us all.

Please listen, and let yoursel hope. c

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F : N . W , M O . C A

D : T , S 1, 2005

S : E

. . . P .

Dear MoveOn member,Hurricane Katrinas toll on communities, homes and lives

has devastated the nation. Now victims must ace the daunt-ing question o where to go nextand we can help. ens o thousands o newly homeless amilies are being bused to a sta-dium in Houston, where they may wait or weeks or months.At least 80,000 are competing or area shelters, and countlessmore are in motels, cars, or wherever they can stay out o theelements. Te Federal Emergency Management Agency andthe Red Cross are scrambling to nd shelter or the displaced.

Tis morning, weve launched an emergency nationalhousing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane vic-tims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. Youcan post your o er o housing (a spare room, extra bed, evena decent couch) and search or available housing online at:

www.hurricanehousing.orgHousing is most urgently needed within reasonable

driving distance (about 300 miles) o the a ected areas in theSoutheast, especially New Orleans.

Please orward this message to anyone you know in theregion who might be able to help.

But no matter where you live, your housing could stillmake a world o di erence to a person or amily in need, soplease o er what you can.

Te process is simple:* You can sign up to become a host by posting a descriptio n

o whatever housing you have available, along with contactin ormation. You can change or remove your o er at any

time.* Hurricane victims, local and national relie organizations,

riends and relatives can search the site or housing. Welldo everything we can to get your o ers where they areneeded most. Many shelters actually already have Internetaccess, but olks without Net access can still make useo the site through caseworkers and amily members.

* Hurricane victims or relie agencies will contact hostsand together decide i its a good match and make thenecessary travel arrangements.Te hosts address is not released until a particular match

is agreed on.I hosting doesnt work or you, please consider donating

to the Red Cross to help with the enormous tasks o rescueand recovery. You can give online at:

www.moveon.orgAs progressives, we share a core belie that we are all in

this together, and today is an important chance to put thatidea to work. Tere are thousands o amilies who have justlost everything and need a place to stay dry. Lets do whatwe can to help.

Tanks or being there when it matters most.

N . W M O . C A c

inbox

the hurricanehousing email that started it Al l

xvii c In Southern Louisiana, Sea Falcon and Sea Wol , along with a ew smaller sailboats washed up onto this road.


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c the midwest

a host listing fromhurricanehousing.org

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julie o.

st. louis, missouri


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chicago, illinois juan salinasgilda williams

[le t to right] Juan Salinas ( host), Gilda Williams (evacuee), rahon (evacuee)

W e lived on that property orf . I . T

... . W .

gilda williams:I lived at 3914 Louisa Street in NewOrleans. Its a amily home, a single- amily property, and

well, we were com ortable. It was ully urnished with a bigliving room, kitchen, dining room, three bedrooms, den,a bathroom and a hal , wash room, big yard. Lots o land.We had ruit trees, all kinds o stu growin out there. Tatproperty has been in my amily or ve generations.

My daughter, Lanzellenow she had her own apart-ment in New Orleans East. But at one time I had all mykids there at my home on Louisa Street. My grandkidswas always running in and out, you know, and my riend

rahon came over rom time to timeSo, you know, it was just going well. I was an o ce

manager or two doctorswith an o ce o eight otherdoctors that leased rom them. You know, admit/dis-charge, billinginsurance veri cation in a hospital settingor a medical o ce setting. Yeah, thats my specialty. Ivebeen doing that or 13 years. I was looking or a secondincome, because, as we all know, Christmas is comingup, and you know, Christmas is important to the grand-

kids. Very important to the grandkids! ( Laughs)Anyway. We just didnt expect the storm to do asmuch damage as it did.

It was Sunday and rahon was over. We heard thatthe mayor declared it mandatory or us to leave. So, wethought, OK, well have to spend some money on hotelsor whatever. But then my daughter called me. Now, Ithought she had already gone out o town with hergrandmother, my ex-husbands mom. So when she called

it shocked me because I had thought she had gone withmy grandkids. I thought I didnt have anybody to worryabout: my son had evacuated, his amily had gone withhim, everybody was sa e, or so I thought. And I was evenconsidering staying, just cause I thought everyone I lovedwas sa e and you know, I thought, Yall just go, I aint goin nowhere! ( Laughs)

But when my daughter called, well, it kinda kickedme in the you-know-where, and I thought , Well, maybewe all better get out o here.

And I remember this so distinctly: I walked over tothe sink and I heard the house creak . It just went errrrrrr .It was a strange sound to me, a sound I hadnt heard myhouse make be ore. And right then, I had a vision: in myminds eye, I saw the water clean up to the ceiling in myhouse. And I thought, Tis has to be a warning .

You see, Louisa Street is a pass street, and some-times when a truck will pass, the house will move a littleor something. But I never heard it creak like that, like itcould give way. So when I heard that, I just thought it wasGods way o telling me, ime to GO. ime to get theheck out o Dodge.

So rahon got the car ready and Lanzelle came by.Her ex-husband dropped her o . ...( Starts crying ) Tatwas the last time we saw him. He...hes dead. He passedaway. We dont know why yet. He had some breathingproblems...and he swam through that terrible water. Hegot caught in that terrible water. ( Juan puts his hand onher arm as she cries .)

gilda: (takes a big breath ) So. Me and rahon and Lanzellegot into the car, and it took us six hours to go rom NewOrleans to Brookhaven, Mississippi, where our riendsJohn and Sylvia live. Which is usually a orty- ve min-ute drive. Its only 150 miles. You hit 70 andyou know(laughing ) dont tell anybody that Ithat I speed like that!But you hit 70 and 45 minutes, later youre there. But not

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juan: Again??(Laughter)gilda: I got lost three times in this city! Just trying to get my

bearings. Its just much, much bigger than New Orleans.I could go rom one end o New Orleans to the other endin, say, twenty- ve minutes. Here, it takes hours! Andpeople...millions o people. My God, its a lot o peoplehere.

juan: Can we talk about FEMA or a second? Because thecity has done some things or evacuees and FEMA hasdone some stu . ...

gilda: Okay, um, I applied or FEMA online. And theysubmitted me the rst payment, which has helped me to

more or less get settled and get a lot o things that I didntget through donations, and that was good. It made me eellike, at least okay, I got some stability, you know. I also ap-plied or unemployment insurance, through Louisiana, butI havent received it yet. And here in Chicago, the city hasa program o emergency unds or transients or displacedpeople and they gave us what they call a Link card to buy

ood with. And that was good. But other than the oodcard and the money rom FEMAwell, thats it. I mean,we dont have anything else. We have nothing else.

Just kindnesses. But you dont want to wear out kind-nesses, and hurt someone else in the process.

juan: Right now, were actually trying to work out a morepermanent arrangement and I really hope that works out.

gilda: Me too. I dont know i its possible to return toNew Orleans. My daughter, a ter all this happening withmy son-in-law...shes eelin she never wants to see NewOrleans again. I need to be here with her or a good por-tion o this time to help her through, get her straight, gether settled. But Ill be visiting down there soon to handle

business because I was told that I had to meet with FEMAon our amily property.

juan: Five generations or so on that home, right?gilda: Yeah. Five generations. We lived on that property

or ve generations.So you knowits kind o hard to let go o . Te dirt

gets in your blood. Te sweat and toil that goes into it,I meanwe put a lot into that home.

But rom what I understand its underwater.

that day. And you know what was cute? A lot o the Mis-sissippi residents were standing on the bridges that crossthe interstate highway, waving banners that said GodBless You and wishing us well. It was such a positive thing.

When we got to John and Sylvias, the storm was hit-ting there toohit so hard that a tree ell on their houseand knocked the power out. We were all there livingtogether or about ve days without power. And we werenot the only people Sylvia and John were putting up.Tere were about twenty-two o us total staying at theirhouse, in the dark with no access to news or nothing.

We were all just trying to make the best o it. Peoples

nerves were razzled and stu . It was a hard living situation.So it was stormin and rainin and we noticed thatall the men kept going out to the car. Im thinkin, What you all goin to the car or? ( Laughs) Im nosy! So I go upthere. Well, it turns out one o the men in the group hada television that he could plug into the car lighter andtheyre lookin at the news about New Orleans. And Imlike, Well, what are they sayin? What are they sayin?

Well, theyre saying on the news that we cant go back.Maybe ever.

Tey didnt have many pictures o New Orleans atthat time because we were getting a lot o news aboutMississippi. We were in Mississippi, so, you know, thatswhat you get: Mississippi news.

On the ourth day, the policemen in Brookhavenwere goin house to house makin sure everybody was

ne. And I asked them, When can we go back to NewOrleans? Tats what happens a ter the hurricane, right?You can go back home. But this time...

Te policeman, he just looked at me and his ace got

white, white, white. He says, ( her voice chokes up): Youcant go back home. Teres bodies foatin everywhere.I couldnt...I couldnt believe it.So we had to decide what to do next. I told rahon

I wanted to come to Chicagomy son lives here and Ihadnt seen him in a while, so, you know, lets go to Chi-cago. And maybe New Orleans will open back up.

So we hit the road and we drove all those hours. We were so tired. rahon got us here. Im no good at driv-ing. I get behind the wheel o a car and just want to driveright to the rest stop and get some sleep! No, rahon gotus here, he really did.

Now, we wanted to go to my sons, but I didnt havemy address book, no phone numbers, nothin . But I re-membered that he worked at the Ramada Inn. So we justcame into town, asked where the Ramada Inn was, gotdirections and ound our way to it and thats when we metwith my son. He has a small apartment and a roommate,so we were really putting him out. But they were so goodto us. We stayed with them or a ew nights, but we obvi-ously couldnt stay there or very long because it was justtoo small and crowded. So rahon went to the EvacueeResource Center.

juan salinas: Te intake center or Chicago.gilda: Right. And they gave him Juans number to contact,

which they had rom the HurricaneHousing site, andthey spoke over the phone. Juan came over in person andbrought rahon to see the house. I was applying or a jobat the time.

juan: I live in Countryside, Illinois, about a hal hour westo Chicago. Im an investor. I own property and I buy realestate in Chicago that I rent out. And when everythinghappened in New Orleans, I happened to have this place

vacant. So I went on the Internet and posted it on Hur-ricaneHousing.org. I saw something on the V about thewebsite, so thats the one I went to. And about a weeka ter I posted, I heard rom rahon. I had several callsabout it, be ore and a ter, but they were either looking ora di erent location or they had too many people.

I wouldnt say it was natural or me to post myproperty online. I did think about it a little bit. But notlike, should I or shouldnt I? I mean, it wasnt that di cult.It was the right thing to do. I had something available andsince it was empty, somebody could use it, you know? Itwasnt a hard decision.

Te website was easy to use. Fill it out, ll in theblanks, that kind o thing. So anyway, rahon called meand they werent real amiliar with the city, but their sonlived airly close by, so that was a point o re erence. SoGilda and rahon came over and saw the place and theyliked it and moved in, just like that.

gilda: And I should tell you, Juan didnt just give us a house.He brought urniture, dishes, even ood and cleaningsupplies. He didnt just put us here and leave us . He liter-ally took care o us, you know what Im saying? And his

amily is beauti ul. From his wi e Betty to his three littlegirls. I havent met his son yet. And his mom-in-law. Imean, these are really wonder ul people. We were blessed,blessed to be taken in and blessed to be bonded with him.

Oh yes. He helped us out tremendously. And o course, hes not gonna say anything but Im gonna say it!

juan: (Laughs)gilda : Im gonna say it out loud because he has a big heart

and his amily has a big heart. And you dont always ndthat. But Ive ound that ever since weve been in com-munication with this manId think about stu , Imtelling you, Im not kidding, Id say, what else do we need?And Id start to make a list and he wouldnt be anywherearound but all a sudden hed pop up at the door with thesame stu I had on my list! And Im like, oh my God, thisman has telepathy.

juan: (Laughs)gilda: So were like amily now. We had him over or dinner

and cooked some red beans. juan: New Orleans stu !gilda: We had red beans and rice, and some ried chicken,

lots o resh ruit. We had a good time. juan: What was that cabbage you made the other day, the

smothered cabbage? Tat was a di erent kind o cabbage!gilda: Oh yeah, hes used to white cabbage. Tis was white

cabbage and green cabbage combined. What we do issmother it with lots o spices and serve it with rice andcornits like a stewed cabbage.

So we have a home here. But its been a bit o a transi-tion. Te climate so ar is a lot like ours. Tey warned methough about the winter. And they brought me blanketsand clothes and stu , and let me know what to expect as

ar as cold is concerned.I am actively seeking employment. My daughter has a

position thats been o ered to her, thank God, in securityat the Chicago University Hospital. But o course, withher childrens ather passing...well, it will delay her startdate. But she wants that job. She needs that job. And Ineed one too. And...well, this is a big, big city. Just learn-ing how to get around... Juan, I should tell you. I got lostagain, Juan.

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ofori atta danquah marilyn eisenbergchicago, illinois

with only two clothes, because I thought I was going to begone or only two days. We just took o . When we nallygot to Chicago, he le t us somewhere in Cottage Groveand said, O ori, this is your nal destination. Ive got togo up to Michigan.

And here I am in a whole huge city, with my ance,and we have nowhere to go.

We were wandering around. We didnt have enoughmoney on us, and had to save the little we had or con-tingency purposes. It was getting late in the night and weneeded to nd someplace to stay. So we went into theemergency ward o a hospital and we pretended that weare patients. (Laughs) Yeah.

Tere were a lot o people sitting on chairs waiting tobe called. Tey had a roo over their head, you know. Sowe pretend we are also waiting or a doctor. We can sitthere as long as we can. People were sleeping so we gotus some sleep. We spent two days there, with no ques-tions. During the day, we just stepped out. Evening time,we just come back again.

Ten I got a text message rom...well, I dont knowwho it was rom. It was this 800 number to call or help.I called and this lady was more than willing to help me.Actually, its amazing. I dont know i it was somethingwith Xavier University? rying to help their students?Anyway, I told them that I was in Chicago and they gaveme a direct number. It was the Red Cross.

I go to the Red Cross; I tell them my story. I thinkI was the only one who had nowhere to go, the only onewho didnt know anybody in the city. So I was givenspecial treatment. A volunteer o ered us a place to sleep.But they had cats in their house, and my ance is allergicto cats. So we had to decline that o er. And then this lady

rom Xavier said, You can sleep on my riends couchuntil they nd you a place where youll be com ortable.

Tis was where I met Ronnie at the Red Cross. AndRonnie said, Im going to go on the Internet. Tere are

Isaid to mysel , I have got to do. I , W I ?

O . I .(Laughs) B I M O .I I

. A I . TH H I , I .

ofori atta danquah : Im rom Ghana, West A rica.Tats my roots. Id been living in New Orleans or ve years, on my own, in my own apartment. I was a XavierUniversity college student. Chemistry major. I was amanager at a Rite Aid there and was also delivering pizza

or extra money. When we heard that a storm was coming,we had about a week to leave the city. I had no choice.

Fortunately and un ortunately, my ance Sophia,who is also originally rom Ghana, had come all the way

rom Japan or a visit. She had been in New Orleans goingon three weeks and we were having a good time. So whenthe storm hit, my ance was also in New Orleans. Andshe was so scared. She kept saying, Lets go. Lets go. Butwhere are we going?

I had a riend in Chicago; that was our or ve years

back. Hes rom Cameroon, West A rica. Hes the onlyguy I know that lives elsewhere in the United States. I wastrying to get in touch with him because we had only twomore days to leave the city. He wasnt responding. Hon-estly, I didnt even know i he was still in Chicago, but Ihad nowhere else to go.

So at the eleventh hour, I called this riend o mineat Xavier, who was driving to Michigan. I told him, My

ance and I will ride with you. Drop us somewhere inChicago. Is it okay? He says, Why not? So I went to him

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more people willing to help. So you go spend the nightsomewhere, and Ill get back with you very soon.

ronnie walker : I am a clinical counselor and Ive beena Red Cross volunteer or ve years. I had just gottenthe email rom MoveOn.org about hurricane housing. Ichecked it out. Te rst name on the list or Chicago wasMarilyn Eisenberg. I gave her a call and I said, Umyoudont know me. (Laughs) Were looking or housing.Teres a lovely gentleman and his ance... I think wetalked or maybe ve minutes. And Marilyn said, Okay,Ill come right down.

I didnt know her be ore, but Marilyn lives in thesame neighborhood I do. Ive been there orever, or thirty-

our years. Its a real community. We all just called updi erent people and said, Weve got these two evacuees.Tey need clothes. And we just walked up and down ourblock to get them what they needed.

Because talking to FEMA was like talking to a blackhole. Its like sailing a paper airplane into the Grand Can- yon. We came up with a new term, PSFD: Post- raumaticFEMA Disorder. Much o the trauma people had was

rom trying to deal with FEMA.As I mentioned, I am a clinical counselor. Te Red

Cross uses counselors, so I o ten get called in or disasters.Te third day a ter the hurricane, I got a call rom them,Can you come down to the phone banks? Tey weregetting 1,500 to 2,000 calls a day, and they wanted somemental health counselors there. We were getting calls like,

I cant nd my husband, Id like to volunteer, Whos tak-ing care o the animals? Im stranded on the road. Tatkind o thing.

United Airlines had an empty plane and theyd fownsupplies in to New Orleans. So they lled the return fightwith 104 evacuees. Tis was be ore the National Guardwas even in there. Tese people had been in the water

or three days. So I was working with evacuees literallyresh out o the water and they had literally fooded into

Chicago. Tey sent our or ve o us down to the OHareairport to greet them, and I worked with them or abouttwo weeks. We were in the red carpet lounge andIvegot to give this to Unitedthey kept the press ar away,to give these people their privacy. When those evacuees

in a car. Go get yoursel registered. Make sure you are inschool. She drove me to UIC.

marilyn: UIC, University o Illinois at Chicago, is a hugecampus. Its synonymous to NYU. Tey have a marvelouspharmacy school here and O ori wants to be a pharmacist.

ofori: Its like, wherever I needed to go, she was willing totake me. Go to school. Get registered. And I went there.Did what was asked o me. Got mysel enrolled.

Actually, i I could get into school, I gured theywould give me a place to sleep. Tats all I wanted: to workhard and study late hours and to have a sa e place to sleep.So I went into the college and spoke to the counselor, whotold me that I could be counted as an out-o -state student.And the very next day I was in school.

Sophia, my ance, was supposed to be leaving bythe close o September. And I gured we should cut her

vacation short, because this is not a vacation anymore.So please, just go early, I told her. You have a job in Japan.Start doing something. ill I get on my eet, then you cancome back and have a very nice vacation with me. Andshe understood.

marilyn: But she was here or, oh, two weeks. Tat ues-day when O ori started UIC, Sophia and I got dressed. Isaid, Cmon, well go down and volunteer at the SalvationArmy. And so we did that. She volunteered every day a terthat. She put in eight to ten hours a day. So it was all aboutgetting control o your li e.

Sophia was just amazing. Here she is, all the way romJapan, getting caught up in all this. She kept saying, Yousaved our lives. I told her what I always say: Go rom be-ing part o the problem to being part o the solution. She

volunteered at the Salvation Army and she just blossomed.ofori: Marilyn came to pick me up rom school the other

day, because we were going to see i I could get oodstamps. We had to go through some process. When shecame, she said, Guess what I have or you? Youre goingto be happy. I have an apartment or you, rent- ree, orthree months. And its not just one single-room apart-ment. Its a three-bedroom apartment! ( Laughs)

marilyn: Tey could stay there starting that night. Imserious. Absolutely. otally. And this apartment is right inthe university area, in Little Italy. Its right by UIC.

11

came o the plane, they were numb, so traumatized. Tey just walked in single- le, numb. Te rst thing that hitme was the stench, the stench o the water. You see, theyhadnt changed their clothes and they had all been in thatwater or three days. Ive never seen people look like that. ...(starts to cry)

People were missing teeth. One woman was missingher dentures. Tey had just run or their lives, withoutgrabbing anything. Tey didnt have ID or their phonebooks. Some were disabled or mentally ill.

United had stacks o clean -shirts. We realized therewere no pants, so we ran down to the Lost and Found andgot pants or people. United had hot roast bee sand-wiches and they had arranged with a nearby Hilton Hotel

or ree showers or them. United was willing to fy themanywhere. United was great and they didnt use this as apress moment. Tey gave people their dignity.

So you know, FEMA was not working, and it took awhole community to help these people.

marilyn eisenberg: I had been watching what wasgoing on, especially in the Superdome. I said to mysel , Ihave got to do something. I said, Whats the worst thatcan happen i I took someone in? Okay. I came up with acouple scenarios. (Laughs) But Im a MoveOn supporter.I was thinking that I would love to help somebody. And I just did it. Te Hurricane Housing email came and I said,Ive got to do it.

ofori: Imagine walking on the streets, having nothing inmind. Where am I going to sleep? Sleeping in the hospi-tal waiting room. Tinking about how my stu is gone

or good. Stu that Ive taken ve years to build. Its gone.And then all o a sudden, living in a very luxurious home.Trough people who are more than willing to accept me. Icouldnt know how to put that into words. Because whenwe moved in here, Marilyn said, You know what? Tis is your home. Do whatever you want to do here. Tis is yourkey. Come move in and come in at any time you want.

It was just too much or me. I was still going througha lot, and what she told me was: Youve got to get controlo your li e. Im going to put you back into school. Because you were a student at Xavier and thats the only way youcan get control o your li e. Te next thing, she put me

ofori: Its walking distance. Yeah. Its awesome.marilyn: I happen to be involved on the board o the

Childrens Museum, and the Childrens Museum had putout an email saying, We are going to o er temporary jobsto anyone a ected rom Childrens Museums in the Gul .So I called the person that was heading it up, and I said, Ihave someone here and hes not with the Childrens Mu-seum, but Id like to have you interview him or a job. SoO ori went down and interviewed, and now hes workingat the Childrens Museum.

ofori: Front desk. Im working with the computer. akingmoney rom parents and allowing the children to go inand have un. And I have another job waiting or me, atWalgreens. When Ronnie took me to her neighborhood,everybody came together trying to help. Tere was thisdoctor. He said, Im going to talk directly to the Wal-greens district o ce and make sure that there is a vacancysomewhere. I really want this job because it relates to myacademic work as a pharmaceutical technician. When Igot home, I got a call, and theres this lady at the districto ce that I have to go see or an interview.

I lled out an application. I have to do the drug test.And this lady told me that since I came rom New Orleans,they need to do a background check. Tats going to takea ew weeks. But thats the only thing Im waiting on andi everything comes through right, Ill get to start work-ing right away. So Ill be working two jobs. Money! Andschool! Actually, my background check is going to be verydi cult, because Xavier is closed down. Te Museum, Idont know how they did it, because they also went onlinechecking on my background. Tey came up with some-thing good. (Laughs)

marilyn: Now well see him get through a winter in Chi-cago. Because they think they want to settle here, but wellsee. (Laughs) Im not putting my chips on that table yet.

ofori: Well, you know, everything I had is gone. I dontknow what speci cally happened, but I know that the par-ish all got fooded. My building was eight eet underwater,so you can imagine... And Chicago is a nice place to live.

Ronnie: He knows he has amily here.ofori: I have lovely amily here.marilyn: All o us.(Laughter)

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ofori: All o you. Everybody. So ar it is awesome. Positive.But i I can go back to the reminiscing...I I have to spendone dollar on something, it means I love it. I cherish it.What I spent all my money on be oremy urniture, myclothes, my belongings in New Orleansits all gone. Ihave amily pictures. I have my documents. Apart romthat, I dont have anything.

But any time I tend to think about that, I have someshoulders to cry on. Marilyn will talk to me. Shell say,

Where you are in this new li e? Tings will get better. Staypositive. You know, let it go. Every mis ortune is a blessing.

I mean, its so nice to meet nice people that are morethan willing to help. So I think Ill take this opportunity tosay thank you to all o them.

You in America have the pros and cons. You have thepositive side and some o the negative side, too. I was onetime eating at a restaurant somewhere here in Chicago. Ithink on Rice Street? People were watching CNN aboutthe hurricane. People were drinking, sharing their views.I was eating, but I was also paying attention to the peoplearound me. People said, Why would they stay there tillthis hurricane comes to meet them? Tis is sheer stupid-ity. Tese people are stupid. Tey should have gone. Teyshould have le t the city.

And I prayed or one second. I asked my Lord to givethem a little understanding, to give them the wisdom tounderstand what is actually going on. Because I was a victim. I didnt have nowhere to go. Te people o NewOrleans, they had nowhere to go. Tey were praying; theywere hoping this thing doesnt come to New Orleans.Because i they had to leave New Orleans, they had noway to do it.

Te people in the bar were very callous, very, verycallous. And I said to them, You know what? Maybe thepeople in New Orleans dont have the means to leave thecity. Tey dont have the means o transportation. Teyhave nowhere to go. Like me.

So why would they talk about these people like this? Iwould think they would eel sympathy or them.

marilyn: Actually, the realization that Ive come to is that,what i we all went out and did this with one homelessperson on the street? We could end homelessness tomor-row. Now thats a di erent customer, so to speak. Tereare mentally ill people out there that cant possibly dowhat O ori and Sophia did. Tey cant in a matter o daystake control o their lives and move on and get their livesorganized. But what i ? So thats what Ive been thinkingabout a lot. What i . And would I ever have the guts totake in a homeless person?

O ori, should I share the letter you sent me?ofori: Sure. My goodness. You can. You can do it. Because

you know, it takes courage or you to put your name onthe Internet and say, I have a room Im going to o er astranger. Somebody you dont know. You dont know hisbackground. You dont know him or her. It could be a ma-niac. Could be an armed robber. Could be a drug addict.Could be...

marilyn: But it was you. (reading O oris letter): When I took o rom New Orleans, I had no knowledge o where I was going to stay. But I had to run or my li e. In Chicagoour best choice was to wander around with little or no hope.Ten out o the blue you came to my rescue when I needed one. You gave us ood, clothes, and sheltered us without asking or a dime. All your phone calls were centered around us. Your strong words o encouragement li ted my spirit when I was virtually down. You provided a shoulder to be cried on. Yes, you are an angel. Your benevolence ishighly recognized in heaven. Te words thank you hardly seem enough, but theyre coming rom my heart. A heart upli ted by your kindness. Please accept my gratitude or everything that youve done.

See, it could have been anyone. But it was you, O ori.It was you. c

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br ian

enckcolumbus, ohio brian enckjosh cohen

Iplay baritone saxophone and , I .T I

E .

josh cohen: I was a sel -employed musician and glassblower in New Orleans. My bread and butter way o making a living was the glass blowing. I did commissionand consignment work or di erent shops and galleriesand stu . I was doing it at a studio thats accessible to thepublic or rental. So I would rent timeactually paying bythe hourto get my product done. At that kind o place, i you dont execute your project welltough luck. You stillhave to pay. Its like having to pay to go to work instead o getting paid to work. So its kind o a gamble. But i youregood, its a decent way to make a living.

I was also in a bandstill am actually, I guesscalledthe Morning 40 Federation, which was a blast. We weresort o a New Orleans institution, together about sevenor eight years. We play very New Orleans-style, celebra-tional rock music. Our name or the sound is drunk rock.( Laughs) Now, obviously, you cant put music into words.But i I had to describe it, I would say that its like rock,but kinda horn-driven. I play baritone saxophone and

tenor saxophone, and then I sing. Te horn parts I playare somewhat abrasive in certain songskind o angryalmost as i youre celebrating the last day on Earth. Allin all, our music is real raucous kinda stu .

So that was me: blowin glass and playin in a crazydrunk rock band, just kinda doing my thing. Ten we gotthe storm. And, well, at rst I didnt think much o it. In

act, I was gonna stay and ride the whole thing out. I hada kinda stubborn, hold-down-the- ort mentality at rst.

[le t to right] Joshua Cohen (evacuee), Brian Enck (host)

Ten I saw what the hurricane was doin on V. Andthe mayor announced a mandatory evacuation. So mygirl riend said that we better get out o there. She actuallywent as ar as to say, Im gonna leave without you i youdont come with me. And then a couple o our riendscalled and just started yelling and screaming at us to getout. So I gave in. We le t. But it was later, you know? Like,Sunday, around 4 or 5 p.m. Tat was a ter the hurricane

had already been doin its thing or quite some time.So we needed to get out o there ast. But the bad

thing was we couldnt nd gas. We went to about eightdi erent gas stations in New Orleans and none o emhad anything. We nally ound one station with a line o cars all llin up. So we waited on that line or about a hal hour. And then the moment our turn cameat the veryinstant we were pickin up the nozzle and about to putsome gas in our tankthey closed the place down! Somedude just grabbed the pump outta my hand andsaid, Sorry, no more gas.

So we kept driving around. And we nally oundthis little place on Esplanade and Claiborne, a real old-school gas station. And because o the way they had it setupthere was no real e cient way to go in there and paywith a credit cardyou had to wait in a crazy long line,like twice the size o the line at the place wed just been.And thats really the reason they still had gas, cause it wasso hard to actually just buy it and get out o there. Anyway,we waited behind what must have been about twenty cars .

And nally we got our gas and got out o there.My girl riends car is a 1962 Dodge Lancer. Its basi-

cally an antique. We wouldnt even usually eel com ort-able driving it around to the grocery store because its soold. And this was the car were usin to try and escape, like,one o the worst hurricanes in history. So we just took itreal slow and babied the car. We made our way north, juststaying in motels or hotels along the way whenever it wastime to take a break.

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At the time, we really werent sure where we wereeven headed. At rst we were gonna go to D.C., cause wehad amily there. But then I gured, all right, weve gotthe Adirondack Mountains to consider. With this antiquecar we were drivin, we really had to decide to go either onthe le t side o the mountains or the right side. We were very worried about the transmission alling out i we triedto make the climb straight over. So, in order to go on theright side o the mountains, wed have to head all the wayback down to Atlanta and then cut over. I we headed inthe other direction, wed be going towards Ohio, where Iwas pretty sure I might be able to get a job. So thats whatwe did.

My riend here in Columbus, Dan Schriber, has aglass studio. And Dan had told me, a while be ore thehurricane hit, that hed gotten this big order rom a riendo his in England. He had about a thousand Christmasornaments to make be ore the holidays and he was lookin

or help. So I thought I could come here and sweat it outin the studio with him or a while. And Ive been doin thatever since I got here. Im making Christmas ballsjustslammin em outmakin sure the Brits are gonna have amerry Yuletide.

So really, what brought us here to Ohio were Christ-mas balls! (Laughs) And the car, well, that had a lot to dowith it as well.

But once we got here, it elt like the right decision.Te only problem was we had no decent place to stay. Firstwe tried a combination o crappy hotels. And then we ac-tually tried sleeping on the foor o the dusty glass studio.But my girl riend wasnt really into the whole bachelor, artstudio kind o li estyle.(Laughs) And then my mom toldme about this MoveOn.org. And I looked it up on the

Internet and got a phone number. I called someone andthey actually read the ads over the phone to me. Someoneat that MoveOn.org 800 number just walked me throughit and even called Brian or me while I waited on the otherline. Tats how we got connected.

brian enck: I live here in Columbus, north o the OhioState University campus. I didnt know about MoveOnbe ore the hurricane. I think there were three organiza-

tions that I signed up with and MoveOn was the only onethat called me back. I just elt like there were people whoneeded help. And opening up my home seemed like apractical way to lend a hand. It honestly seemed like a no-brainer to me. I have the space. My house is about 1,200square eet and there are two bedrooms. So I had a sparebedroom and bathroom. And now Josh and his girl riendare usin em.

josh: Its great. Being here has been very com ortable. Ithought it might be a little awkward, but we have compat-ible interests. And its kinda uncannyBrians place is likea parallel universe to my old reality in some ways. Like,his door, you have to kinda slam it. Same with my doorback home in New Orleans. You have to give it an extraslam because its warped. And my V at homeyou cantturn it on or o with the remote control because it makesother electronic things in the house turn on or o as well.It does some weird remote control thing. And Brians Vhas the same problem. One o the rst things Brian toldme when I got here was, Just turn the V on by manuallyhitting it.

brian: It seems like simple little things, but... josh: I mean, we even had some guy over here drinking

beer the other night, just hanging out. And a ter thinkingabout it or a second, I realized that he looks exactly likea totally di erent guy who comes over to my house anddrinks beer all the time. Weird wilight Zone parallels,man! (Laughs)

brian: Its reassuring, I guess! (Laughs) josh: Oh man. I just eel thank ul that we have a nice com-

ortable home to stay in, with amenities wed never have ata shelter or someplace like that. I mean, I was even grate-

ul to be able to stay on the foor at my riends glass studio.

But that whole camping eeling can get old pretty ast.Here at Brians place we have cable V. We can watch BillMaher, movies. I can watch ootball. Its just nice to havesome luxuries that you take or granted until a catastrophelike this happens. First it was water and gas and hotels andspending a lot o our savings on just basic survival needsand getting my girl riends car xed and stu like that.And then we ell into the money vortex. We were basically

vagabonds on the road, emotionally razzled, going brokeand le t without a home. Te only reminders o wherewe used to live were these scary images on CNN. So nowits nice to just have a bed. Its nice to have simple things.Brians very easy to get along with. And theres a kitchenand a ridge!

brian: Plus we go out drinking. josh: Now thats something I de nitely enjoy, ya know? It

kinda takes the edge o everythinglike work. I mean,normally I wouldnt be too psyched to spend my li e mak-ing Christmas balls or hours and hours on end. But I eelhumbled by this whole experience. Im honestly just grate-

ul that I actually have a place to go every day and make aew bucks. And then I get to come back here and hang out

with Brian.I want to go back home to New Orleans. But this is

really okay or now. Like, I could sit here and obsess aboutthe act that theyre not allowing the people rom my zipcode back into New Orleans and that the loading doorwas blown o o my warehouse, basically giving looters

ree access to my art studio or the whole time Im up here.But Im tryin not to stress.

And sometimes, its hard. I mean, my artist studiohas just been wide open to the streets or an entire month.And my saxophones are...its a mystery as to the conditiono my saxophones or i theyve been stolen. And yesterday,I remembered the act that we le t some deer meat in our

reezer. So I can be reasonably positive that at this verymoment, a huge hunk o very thawed-out deer meat isspewing maggots in our ridge. Its di cult not to obsessover all that shit. I mean, there are a million ways to gonegative. But Ive just been trying to catch mysel everytime I start to slip into that kinda thought pattern and just see the bright side as much as possible.

brian: Its not easy. josh: No, its not. But as ar as net positive, I mean, Brian

o course has been a major positive or us. We have a greatplace to stay. A place where we can just be ourselves andwhere things seem normal. We can just, like, zone out.Cause I eel com ortable around Brian. I eel like Ivemade a riend.

brian: And I may have a space in New Orleans when I gothere to visit.

josh: Oh, hes most de nitely got a space in New Orleansor li e.c

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I am a single mom o a 10-year-old boy. I would love to help out

another single mom with 1 or 2 kids. My son can sleep with me and

his bedroom is available and we can make another bedroom in the

basement. I ofer warmth, love, and good home cooked meals to a

amily in need or as long as needed. I can provide or transportation

to pick you up wherever you are i I can physically get to you by car. I

want to be o service to a amily in need. All my love and prayers, s,

leslee

host listing from hurricane.org

c the west

a host listing from

hurricanehousing.org

I 10- - . I

1 2 . M

. I ,

,

. I

I

. I . A

,

leslee h.

tucson, arizona


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phoenix, arizona tobi hawleykayantae synigal

[le t to right] Rob Hawley (host), Beonce Synigal (e vacuees daughter),obi Hawley (host), Logan Hawley ( hosts son), Kayantae Synigal-Battle

(evacuee & new mother), Amira Battle (evacuees miracle baby), Kerry Battle (evacuee & new ather), Benjamin Butler (evacuee)

ne, youre okay, dadadadada. And then I had to go backinto the shelter and wound up getting sicker and starteddilating even more. Ten I started contractions. I startedabdominal cramping. So I went back to the hospital. I hadto beg someone rom the Red Cross to give me a ride tothe hospital to seek care. And when I got there, the peopleat the hospital said, Oh, youre okay, dadadadada andthey sent me back to the shelter once again!

So then my anc, he was emailing people, tryingto get us a place to stay, and we got a hotel room romFEMA. But they only paid or a ew days. Te doctorssaid I should stay there on bed rest, but we couldnt a ordit and nobody would help us. I had doctors papers sayingthat Im on bed rest until its time or me to deliver. Butnobody would give us help so we could do that. So my

anc, hes just typing away, going on the email and every-thing. And somehow he emailed Ms. obi and he told hermy situation. Next thing you know Im talking to her, andshe said, Come on, come to Phoenix. Well pay or you.Well provide a way or you to get down here.

tobi hawley: My heart went out to Kayantae. BecauseIm a mom, and to have that kind o ordeal in the midsto childbirthI couldnt imagine what she was eeling. Imean, theres no way she shouldve been discharged romthe hospital the way she was.

kayantae: She was so generous, and at just the time whenI really needed it. Because I was really not eeling good.So I said to my anc, What you want to do, honey?

And he was like, I want to take this lady up on her o er.So we went rom the hotel to the bus station, got a bus allthe way to Houston, then connected in Houston to fy toPhoenixa whole day traveling. I had never actually beenon a plane be ore in my li e. And now Im pregnant, fyingon a plane and dilating in the same day! It was crazy. Andby the end, I elt all dizzy and sick. Real sick. But then Ms.obi met us at the airport.

W e never thought we could. Y V, .

B , , I .

kayantae synigal: When the hurricane came, I waspregnant and I just didnt want to leave. But it was amandatory evacuation. We had to leave. So me and my

anc and a bunch o riends o ours all put money in andrented a U-Haul truck. On our way out o the city, wepicked up a bunch o amilies who had no transportationand put them in the back o the truck. So it was abouttwenty- ve o us in the back o that U-Haul truck leavingNew Orleans. And as we was leaving, we all looked out o the backand the sky was just pitch-black rom the storm.It was raining all over the place. I mean, we were just rightahead o the thing. It was like the storm was chasing us.

We made it up to Lake Charles. But it took us twelvehours to get there and its normally like a two-hour drive.And, mind you, Im pregnant. Im sitting in the back o the U-Haul. Im sitting in a chair rom somebodys lawnor something like that. So, okay, twelve hours? In, like, alawn chair. And when we got to Lake CharlesI was withmy daughter, my anc and the other amilies wed pickedupall o us checked into the Lake Charles Civic Centershelter. And as soon as I got there, I started dilating.

Te hospital wouldnt keep me. I went and told themI was a high-risk patient because my rst daughter waspremature. She was born at thirty-two weeks. She wastwo pounds, two ounces. So I was a high-risk pregnancyand, I mean, as you can tell, Im a little bitty person, somy immune system is not all that great. And I was basi-cally telling them that, and they was like, Oh, youre

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tobi: With tulips.kayantae: With some tulips! (Laughs) She was cuteso

excited to see us. And I was just exhausted. My stomachwas queasy. But it was so exciting to meet her. It elt great just to know that someone really cared and was reallylooking out or us.

tobi: It wasnt anything special. We were watching likeeverybody else on the news everything that was goingon with the hurricane. And I just thought it was terriblehow unorganized everything was and that there were allthese people therehomeless in theseshelters, with cotsin a row. Te shelterat Lake Charles hadclose to 5,000 peoplein it. And I mean,there was only oneshower room witheight showerheadsin the whole place

or people to use.Tere was no privacy.Teyre sleeping rightnext to each other.And to be pregnant inthat situation, I justcant imagine it.

And we have thisurnished seasonal rental that wasnt being used. Im a

real estate agent, and we have some rental properties. Wehave a lot o tourists who come to Phoenix, usually romDecember to Aprilthats the prime season. So I have a

ully urnished rental, with all the linens, dishes, bedding,everything a amily would need. And it stays vacant nor-mally May to December. Because its too hot. And I just

elt bad. Tis place was sitting here vacant and somebodycould be staying there. Its very nice in Phoenix. Tere areno hurricanes.

kayantae: Right.

tobi: Te pictures I saw on Vthey disturbed me, asthey did everybody. And I couldnt sleep. So I got up andstarted sur ng the Internet. And thats where I oundHurricaneHousing.org. Tere werent many sites set upavailable to match people up with housing. Te govern-ment had nothing set up. But HurricaneHousing had aneasy-to-use system, by state and everything like that. Idnever heard o MoveOn be ore. But I just talked to Kay-antae and I knew we had to help. And to me, I didnt carethat they were strangers. Tey couldve been bad people

or good people; I was justtrusting my aith. And Iput a lot o trust in that.Because, I mean, this wasa big deal. Her being preg-nant and all? A big deal.And it just consumed me.I called everybody tryingto get them fights. Terewere supposedly reefights available or thehurricane victims. Butwhen you called Conti-nental Airlines, they said you had to go throughthe Red Cross. Tey had

vouchers, but no oneknew how to get them.So when I called the Red

Cross here, they told me to call the Red Cross in Louisi-ana. Te Red Cross in Louisiana told me to call FEMA.FEMA told me to call the Red Cross. It was a big circleo calls, none o them giving me any luck. So I went the

next morning to my church and I said, I need your help. Ineed to get these people here. Tis ladys pregnant. Andthey immediately paid or the tickets. Tats NorthridgeCommunity Church or you.

kayantae: I have to thank them so much.tobi: Oh God, everybody here just wants to help. My OB/

GYN volunteered to see Kayantae ree o charge when shearrived. Kayantae got here on a Wednesday night and the

next morning I already had a doctors appointment set upor her.

kayantae: Yes, tell them that...tobi: Well, we just thought it was gonna be a routine ap-

pointment. But when we went down to the doctors, thenext thing you know, people are scrambling around andpeople are on the phone, and theyre like, You need totake her over to the hospital right away. Shes about togive birth!

And they airli ted her. She was three to our centime-ters dilated. So they airli ted her in a helicopter.

kayantae: And I went rom never bein in the air mywhole li e to riding on a plane and a helicopter all in the

same week!tobi: Your baby had requent fier miles be ore she was even

born. (Laughs)And thats why I think her name is phenomenal.

Teyre calling her Amira, a ter a miracle. And it is amiracle baby. Tat babys been through quite the adven-ture be ore she ever even came into the world.

kayantae: We had great guardian angels sitting over us. Ithink its a blessing rom God, just a blessing.

tobi: Well, when you decide to help people, like I said, youdont know what kinda people youre gonna help. But wecouldnt have asked or a better amily or better people.Because they really want to make a di erence in their livesand give back. Its amazing. Teyre just loving people.Its been really rewarding or us. Its changed our lives.We never thought we could help. You watch stu on V,maybe give some money or whatever. But now, a ter thisexperience, I realize that actually doing something makesthe more meaning ul di erence. So its been an educa-tion. And all o our riends and amily are stepping up tothe plate now. My uncles in Houston volunteering now,because o what weve done. Its inspired a lot o olks. Youknow how everyone sits back wanting to do something,saying theyd like to do something, but they dont really doit? Well, look at us. We did something. And now every-ones coming around. Its amazing. It really is. c

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damoni norbertdwayne wilson

stacy crate,lt. cmdr. james crate jr. , usn

hanford, california

But what God is showing me is . Y ? W , .

dwayne wilson: Im Dwayne Wilson. Yes sir. Myname is Dwayne Wilson and this is my amily. My wi e isLakesha Norbert, my son is Devon Norbert, my baby boyis Damoni Norbert and my oldest son is Larry Norbert.Tey aint got their names changed into mine, but they areall my blood. And this is the true story o the Wilson am-ily. Tis is our true story.

I never thought I would be leaving New Orleans. Ivebeen there all my li e, man. I was working or World ShipSupply as a orkli t operator. We did everything or thatship. Whatever they needed or the ship to set sail, weprovided or them.

Me personally, I have never traveled. Farthest Ive everbeen is Atlanta. I never thought I would be 2,000 milesaway rom New Orleans, living in Han ord, Cali ornia. Ialways heard about Cali ornia, but...here I am! I am actu-ally living in Han ord, Cali ornia. Man, its truly a blessingand I just want to continue to praise God. Because this iswhere God put us. Tis is where Christ put us. And I amso surely content where Im at right now.

My mother worked at Memorial Medical in New Or-leans. Her employer let amily members come stay thereduring the storm, so we rode the storm out there at thehospital and then managed to get home. Te next morn-ing, me and my kids woke up and heard on the radio thatthe food gates at the 17 th Street Canal broke. Te waterstarted coming into the city.

Be ore that water got to us, we managed to get backto the hospital and thought we would stay there. But thewater rose up and lled the bottom o the hospital. So we volunteered to get the patients up out o there. We helpedthe nurses and the doctors evacuate the patients rst.

During that process, word came down that everybody had to evacuate the hospital because the oundation o thehospital was starting to give way. So they managed to geteveryone out o there and they brought us to a dry spotover on St. Charles and Napoleon. We stayed there ora ew hours. And rom there we got on a truck and theybrought us to the New Orleans Convention Center. Westayed there or our days.

It was a long our days, man. But God is good. Godprovided a way or us to escape harm. I know all the hor-rors that were going on in that Convention Center. Butme and my kids and my amily, we didnt experience thosehorrors because we were busy trying to save ourselves.And like I said, God is the one. He is the one that protect-ed us. We were kept sa e, and I give credit to the Father. I just continued to pray that he would deliver us rom thehorrors o the Convention Center. And He did.

It...was bad there. I dont want to relive it.A ter our days at the Convention Center, we man-

aged to get through the gate and we caught a F150 Heli-copter to the International Airport. From there, we few toFort Ca e Arkansas Military Base, and rom Fort Ca wemanaged to catch a bus to Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Te pastor o the church in Fort Smith contacteda man named Mr. Andrew Kenny, who had an RV. Mr.Kenny o ered to drive us all to Cali ornia in that RV, andwe happily accepted his o er. My wi e had some riends inSan Pedro, Cali ornia and we thought we could stay with

them. But his RV broke down on the way in exas. He wasso kind and generous to us, man. He said, Well, look. Tenearest bus station is in Amarillo, exas, which is aboutthirty minutes rom here. And he gave us all the money inhis pocket so we could get bus tickets to Cali ornia. rulya blessing.

And somehow, through Mr. Kenny and his wi e, Ms.Sandra, we ended up with this home here in Han ord. I

[back row, le t to right] Stacy C rate (host), Lt. ravis Jones, USN (hosts riend), Damoni Norbert (evacuee), Dwayne Wilson (evacuee);

[second row, le t to right] Lt. Cmdr. James Crate, Jr., USN (host), Patty Jones(hosts riend), Larry Norbert (evacuee), L akesha Norbert (evacuee);

[ ront row] Devon Norbert (evacuee)c


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got a call rom a lady named Ms. Heather Ryan and shesaid she had a great o er or us out in Han ord, Cali ornia.I didnt know where Han ord was. And she said, Well,I have a our-bedroom house or yall ree o rent or awhole year, plus a car. We gladly accepted, man. And thisis where we wound up.

stacy crate: I saw on MSNBC where a lady in Austinhad set up a home or some evacuees in San Antonioand I just thought we could do that too. So I went on theMSNBC website and clicked on the how to help but-ton. It listed a whole bunch o di erent organizations thatwere linking people who needed homes with people whohad homes. I just made a post on all the di erent websites.

HurricaneHousing.org was one o them.Ten I was contacted by a lady in Fresno...who was in

touch with someone in Houston ...who called me and saidthat a amily in Arkansas needed a home! So thats how itall happened. You put up a post and somehow a chain o people relay the message.

My husband is a Navy pilot with VFA-2. He and I arecovering the rent on this house or Dwayne and his amily

or a ull year. Te Kings County Board o Realtors is cov-ering the utilities or a year. Ive got a couple people thathave o ered to pick up a months rent here and there. Youknow, my mother-in-law sent us the money to buy them acar. Its just a little bit o everybody pitching in to help, butits mainly the people rom my real estate o ce and a ewo us military wives who have pulled this o .

dwayne: When we received this o er...I was just ull o joy. Full o joy.Just to know that God is working or us, man.And He works or us through people . You know what Imsaying? Tese people out here truly opened their heartswith a sincerity to help. My heart goes out to every single

one o them. From Mr. Kenny all the way to Stacy. God isgood and I just continue to praise Him, man.

I eel like were home. Another environment, sure,but its home all over again. Te love o these people thathelped put this together, man. Te unconditional love thattheyve shown us lets me know that this is home. BesidesNew Orleans, I mean, truly a home.

Right now, I dont know where were gonna go romhere and Im not worried about it. Right now its just aboutrejoicing in the contentment Hes given us. Well stay aslong as God keeps us here. Me, I dont plan on the utureno more. I make my plans by just trusting Him, the mosthigh. However He works it out or us, thats how weregonna go, man.

My kids and my wi e, we all eel like we never le thome. Te same thing that was in us at home is still thesame thing thats in us now. Te Holy Spirit. God. Tis isthe truth, man.

My kids were worried about getting back to school.But because o the love thats been shown us, they havent

missed a beat o school. Tey started back to school a teronly two days here. Tey are attending Preston GreenHead Start and one goes to Pioneer Elementary.

And the kids that go to my sons schools are very, verysensitive to what theyve been through. Tey understand.Tey treat them so well, as i they had always known them.My sons t right in with them, man, as i they had beenhere all their lives. Its beauti ul.

stacy: We sent a press release to the local newspaper, the Han ord Sentinel , and eventually three articles got writ-ten up about them. Tey were on the ront cover o thenewspaper on Sunday. So a lot o people knew a littlebit o what we were trying to do and the minutetheminute we said were trying to help a Hurricane Katrina

amily here, a lot o people opened up their hearts andgave stu to help out.

dwayne: ruly amazing. Oh man, the community hasopened up. It has opened up to us with such sincerity.

You know, we led or all that ederal stu , everythingthat was required o us, at Fort Smith in Arkansas. We

done been through that. And we never heard anythingback. I still have money out there owed me rom my job.We still have money out there rom FEMA, I guess. Alltogether, we probably have maybe $5,000 out there? I dontknow how much it is. But right now, money is not theproblem. Money is not the issue, man. Teres the strictlyunconditional love that people are showing us. Im notworrying about nothin.

7

I mean, I always been an independent man. I tookcare o my amily at home. God knows Im a workin man.I had a good job. And my wi e, she helped provide, too.We were pretty much stable. Ten this disaster comes and you think it will destroy your li e.

But what God is showing me that we are still stable, you know? Were in another place, but still stable. Ithought Id be a stranger in a strange land, but I eel rightat home, man, or right now. Right at home. And itsbeauti ul.

I dont know how long it will take them to rebuildNew Orleans. Our neighborhood has truly been destroyed.I cant look toward New Orleans right now. I just looktoward the uture. Te uture is orever. Looking back isnever. So Im going to continue to look orward. But romhere, I know that wherever God puts us, thats alwaysgonna be home. Tis is the gi t that Ive been given. Wewill always be home. c

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Stacy Crate carries Damoni Norbert.


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shauna sil iezar eileen galindohollywood, california

What Ill probably do is start . C I

. S I ,

, . I

.shauna siliezar: Te day be ore the hurricane turned

into the Category Five, people started sayin, Well, I guesswere gonna probably have to start thinkin about, youknow, leaving New Orleans or whatnot.

eileen galindo: But not you. ( Laughs)shauna: No, yeah. Not me. ( Laughs) Yeah, because, you

see, I had to work that Saturday night, and I needed themoney! Im a bartender at Houstons. So, you know, theydid mandatory evacuations that whole day Saturday, but Iwas like, I gotta work. It actually took me about an hour-and-a-hal to even get to work cause everybodys leavinthe city and Im tryin to go into the city to work.

Well, the night ended at about two in the morning. Igot home and thought, I need to just pack something up or me and the baby and just leave! So I packed up and gotmy little baby and we went to Baton Rouge. I just drovemy car. It was two in the morning and by that time peoplewere o the roads. When I got to Baton Rouge I stayed ata ladys house...

eileen: ell em how you ound the lady.shauna: Te lady was actually a bar guest rom that night

who had o ered her place. Shes in real estate and she hado ered a place or me to stay with the baby i we didnthave anywhere to go. So thats how I got a place to stayin Baton Rouge. So thank God or her. And thank God I

[le t to right] Shauna Siliezar (evacuee), Anjolina Siliezar (evacuees daughter), Eileen Galindo (host)

went to work that night! But even though I elt lucky, thatwhole Sunday was very emotional. I mean I was very...Iwas reakin out, I guess you could say. I cried a lot. I didntknow what was goin on. You know? I only brought limitedthings or my baby and me. And my baby, she was kindo ...she could probably sense that there was somethinggoing wrong. Were in a strange place with three big dogs.And I could hardly get in touch with any o my amilybecause o the phone lines. Im only twenty-six years old.And it was just the rst time in my li e I had to actuallymake huge decisions on my own without any kind o help.

Te hurricane hit hardest that Monday. And myhouse got fooded and...and I couldnt go back. Everythingwas water-damaged and I didnt have renters insurance.So pretty much that was it. My stu is gone basically.So I decided I had to come out here to Cali ornia. Myhusbandwere kind o separated. Its complicated. But hehas a sister who lives near here in Tousan

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