RSS 2.0 FeedForever Dependent
by Brad WarbianyRemember all those people displaced by Katrina who were headed for “temporary” housing? Well, as with most government programs, dependency is never a temporary condition. As Homeland Stupidity reports:
About 110,000 households displaced due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 will continue to receive housing assistance through March 1, 2009, under a plan the Bush administration announced last week.
Under the plan, some 33,000 families still receiving federal housing assistance, and 87,000 still living in travel trailers and mobile homes, will begin to pay a portion of the cost of the rental beginning in March 2008 and continuing through March 1, 2009, when benefits will end. Those living in travel trailers and mobile homes will also have the option of purchasing their units, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.
Housing aid had been scheduled to end August 31.
Those receiving rental assistance will be moved to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Disaster Housing Assistance Program. “HUD will use their extensive experience in case management to help residents transition to longer-term housing,” said Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding Donald E. Powell. “We believe this is a coordinated, integrated approach to help those families who need more time and further assistance to move from temporary housing and transition to self-sufficiency.”
More time and further assistance? How do you need more than two years?
Brad,
Have you been to New Orleans recently?
Comment by Kevin — May 2, 2007 @ 4:30 pmWhen they were relocated, were they relocated where they could get jobs. You comment assumes that all those people just wanted to be on welfare. Many of those people were relocated to places, such as where I live, in which the cost of living was much higher. I spoke to one woman from Mississippi, who was not concerned about getting work, but she concerned about being able to support her family and continue to pay the higher rent when the subsidy ended. FEMA didn’t answer questions like that. This was two years ago. The rent being offered was way more than the mortgage she had been paying in her small town. She was trying to find out when she could return to her home. She still had her job at home, but couldn’t get enough information about the living conditions there. Wages are not necessarily equivalent.
If you live in the margins and your support system is disrupted (family and friends), one catastrophe is devastating.
Does one have to “walk in the shoes”…?
Comment by VRB — May 2, 2007 @ 5:51 pmHey, where’s my pingback?
And I’ve been out there on the streets. I speak — and in this case write — from long experience with being poor and even homeless. I’ve walked in the shoes and worn them out. I know exactly when someone is getting help they need and when someone’s gaming the system. Thank you very much.
Comment by Michael Hampton — May 3, 2007 @ 1:56 am