I LOVE New Orleans and the folks who live there. When I lived in
Texas, I worked for an organization that included groups of church
folk from the very neighborhoods that were left behind to fend for
themselves and suffer in the aftermath of a hurricane. The tragedy,
exacerbated by the worst lack of coordination in disaster relief
I
’ve seen in our country for decades, made my heart break.
I LOVE New Orleans and the folks who live there. When I lived in Texas, I worked for an organization that included groups of church folk from the very neighborhoods that were left behind to fend for themselves and suffer in the aftermath of a hurricane. The tragedy, exacerbated by the worst lack of coordination in disaster relief I’ve seen in our country for decades, made my heart break.
Much has already been said about the ineptitude at all levels of government in its response. While I believe our president has a critical inability to hire good people (“Brownie?”), there is no question that there are plenty of shoulders to share the blame, one mouthy mayor in particular.
But I think I understand the lack of response. Many of us live in denial of the danger around us in this world. This “psychic numbing” keeps us from throwing ourselves off cliffs or slitting our wrists in fear and despair. However, if you attain a position of decision-making that impacts the lives of thousands, you need to come up with a coping mechanism to counter the denial. There’s no excuse for ignoring experts who constantly warn and inform on how to protect communities from the dangers, and it doesn’t excuse the lack of coordination and communication once officials finally responded.
Disasters bring out the best in people. A testament to this is the work of Leslie Anderson, a third grade teacher at Morgan Hill’s Jackson Elementary School. She is working to meet the needs of high school students whose efforts to get into college this year have been derailed by the crisis of displacement and the destruction of their schools (and their school records and transcripts).
There is never a good time for a hurricane to befall a community, but Katrina barreled through at a critical time for high school students intent on higher education. Ms. Anderson is coordinating the efforts of local people willing to help high school students, whose parents need to focus completely on the tasks they need to rebuild their lives. They will help students register for required tests, recreate their school records, draft personal essays, as well as assemble necessary documents to submit complete applications by deadline, and also help to apply for financial aid.
This must be done, she says, because there are students who seek to improve the quality of their lives and their standard of living, the chances of which are greatly increased with higher education. She fears – rightly so – that some students, who would have gone to college next year had their lives not been turned upside down by this tragedy, will lose their momentum in pursuit of college, and instead be funneled into low-wage work to help their families recover in the short term. The long-term outcomes for workers without a college degree include under-employment and joining the ranks of the growing class of working poor, so staying on track for college is critical.
Because my daughter has begun preparing for college, I am sensitive to how daunting this entire process must seem (and in fact, be) for these students. Of all the activities and contributions about which I’ve read and heard, her plan is the only one that addresses this unique need. If you are interested in making such a commitment, contact me.
There are many lessons in this tragedy for us locally. How much money was saved by not sending in buses to evacuate those unable to transport themselves out of the area? How much money was saved by not implementing the recommended changes and upgrades to the levees that “no one anticipated” (at least in the White House) would break?
For us, how much tax revenue will be generated if San Jose puts in those 5,000 houses in Coyote Valley ahead of time, discarding the mandated triggers? Will it be enough to pay for unmitigated flaws or the essential public services to help the residents and those communities impacted by them (i.e. us) in some kind of disaster? And how much do San Juan Bautista officials think they are “saving” by refusing a grant of millions of dollars to upgrade their dangerously fragile and old infrastructure? The question is really how much more will we have to pay?
A great deal of damage is done to communities due to short-term thinking and the abandonment of all common sense. And, we have seen people suffer dearly for it. Shame on us if, in our denial, we let that happen to us.
Columnist Dina Campeau is a wife, mother of two teens and a resident of Morgan Hill. Her work for the last seven years has focused on affordable housing and homeless issues in Santa Clara County. Her column will be published each Friday. Reach her at dc******@*****er.net.
