the city of new orleans is looking for money.
the red cross has money. lots and lots and lots of money. over a billion dollars, i believe, has been privately donated to the red cross since pictures of hurricane katrina's devastation reached the mainstream media. and that's fantastic. a true testament to the human spirit, once again. people may not have any kind of connection to new orleans or the gulf coast, but they will take the time to give to the relief effort.
and enter: the red cross. a true american institution. opening shelters across the state to house the displaced persons. they offered meals, clothing, debit cards. even a month's supply of medication for those that needed it.
here we are. 2 months later. lives still a-shambles. politicians yelling at each other over the best plan for the city of new orleans.
my thoughts on the matter started this morning. when the sheetrock people came over the weekend, they covered everything in plastic and taped it down. including our kitchen table (now in our den), the little dorm refrigerator we've been using, our one remaining countertop (the bar between the kitchen and den - the site of many many many sandwiches and margaritas and cheese and crackers), and our coffepot, with coffee and chickory still dripping in it. needless to say, this monday morning, i left the house for work without coffee. sure, that's ok, i think to myself, i'll get to go the little coffeshop i love in the quarter. (contribute a little to the local economy AND get my caffeine? PERFECT!) so i'm driving down royal street, and of course i can't find parking. i just needed a little spot - even illegal - just to pull into so that i could run into la boucherie, get my coffee and leave. the curbsides were filled with FEMA pickup trucks. about my third time going around the block, i started yelling to no one "why are you heeeere? why are you here in the french quarter? the french quarter is FINE! it's the highest freakin' point in the city! why are you taking up space RIGHT HERE. why aren't you in the 9th ward, why aren't you in chalmette, why aren't you lakeview????"
ok, maybe FEMA IS in all those places. the places that really need the help. but it still seems like there is A LOT of FEMA money being spent in an area that doesn't necessarily need all of it. after all, 280 years ago, bienville and iberville knew what they were doing when they founded a city where they did.
right. i digress. i'm not really mad at FEMA. give me a few days. back to me being pissed off at the red cross.
i hear about this load of money that the red cross has accumulated. huh. interesting. i have YET to see a red cross truck in new orleans. i saw a few in fairhope, but then i was told that it was actually some local volunteers that got together to help, and the red cross came and put their sticker on the side of their truck and their sign outside of their civic center. they are STILL waiting for their funding from the red cross. (i don't lie, people)
now i did know that we were able to get $350 from the red cross. 350 dollar bills. sure, i can use $350 dollars. it's not going to help rebuild a house, but that's ok, i can use it. i guess that's what they call "emergency financial assistance" according to the red cross website. well, also according to the redcross website, they are giving 1.34 BILLION dollars to "emergency financial assistance"
i'm going to do some quick math. there might have been 1 million in people in the metro new orleans area before the hurricane. if each of those people claimed their $350, that's $350 million dollars to directly assist citizens. that's 684 million dollars that is unaccounted for.
i haven't heard of the red cross giving some of that money to schools. i KNOW that mt. carmel isn't seeing a penny of it. and on top of that, i know foundations have declined giving mt. carmel money BECAUSE they have already given a good amount of money to the red cross. again, interesting, the money is nowhere to be found.
oh. and that 1.34 billion dollars? doesn't include the 11 million dollars that is supposed to be going towards "physical and mental health services" don't get me started on the need for a mental health task force right now. that's a story for another day. you have no idea how many prescriptions for xanax and paxil i see during an 8 hour day. i talked to krentel - his whole job revolves around improving statewide mental health services - and he doesn't even know what has been set up to provide citizens with access to a mental health professional.
again, TELL ME WHERE YOUR MONEY IS REALLY GOING, red cross.
so the moral of my story: don't give money to the red cross. because we're not going to see it again. i don't know where it goes, but it is not here in new orleans. where it is needed. i have seen the salvation army around - giving out meals when lakeview opened to residents, collecting clothes, cleaning up the neutral ground on esplanade ave. down the street from where i work, at the corner of frenchmen and royal, i see a sign that says free hot meals every day for lunch. obviously, i see FEMA and the national guard. oh, but no red cross.
just food for thought. and i recommend the dark roast coffee at la boucherie.
and enter: the red cross. a true american institution. opening shelters across the state to house the displaced persons. they offered meals, clothing, debit cards. even a month's supply of medication for those that needed it.
here we are. 2 months later. lives still a-shambles. politicians yelling at each other over the best plan for the city of new orleans.
my thoughts on the matter started this morning. when the sheetrock people came over the weekend, they covered everything in plastic and taped it down. including our kitchen table (now in our den), the little dorm refrigerator we've been using, our one remaining countertop (the bar between the kitchen and den - the site of many many many sandwiches and margaritas and cheese and crackers), and our coffepot, with coffee and chickory still dripping in it. needless to say, this monday morning, i left the house for work without coffee. sure, that's ok, i think to myself, i'll get to go the little coffeshop i love in the quarter. (contribute a little to the local economy AND get my caffeine? PERFECT!) so i'm driving down royal street, and of course i can't find parking. i just needed a little spot - even illegal - just to pull into so that i could run into la boucherie, get my coffee and leave. the curbsides were filled with FEMA pickup trucks. about my third time going around the block, i started yelling to no one "why are you heeeere? why are you here in the french quarter? the french quarter is FINE! it's the highest freakin' point in the city! why are you taking up space RIGHT HERE. why aren't you in the 9th ward, why aren't you in chalmette, why aren't you lakeview????"
ok, maybe FEMA IS in all those places. the places that really need the help. but it still seems like there is A LOT of FEMA money being spent in an area that doesn't necessarily need all of it. after all, 280 years ago, bienville and iberville knew what they were doing when they founded a city where they did.
right. i digress. i'm not really mad at FEMA. give me a few days. back to me being pissed off at the red cross.
i hear about this load of money that the red cross has accumulated. huh. interesting. i have YET to see a red cross truck in new orleans. i saw a few in fairhope, but then i was told that it was actually some local volunteers that got together to help, and the red cross came and put their sticker on the side of their truck and their sign outside of their civic center. they are STILL waiting for their funding from the red cross. (i don't lie, people)
now i did know that we were able to get $350 from the red cross. 350 dollar bills. sure, i can use $350 dollars. it's not going to help rebuild a house, but that's ok, i can use it. i guess that's what they call "emergency financial assistance" according to the red cross website. well, also according to the redcross website, they are giving 1.34 BILLION dollars to "emergency financial assistance"
i'm going to do some quick math. there might have been 1 million in people in the metro new orleans area before the hurricane. if each of those people claimed their $350, that's $350 million dollars to directly assist citizens. that's 684 million dollars that is unaccounted for.
i haven't heard of the red cross giving some of that money to schools. i KNOW that mt. carmel isn't seeing a penny of it. and on top of that, i know foundations have declined giving mt. carmel money BECAUSE they have already given a good amount of money to the red cross. again, interesting, the money is nowhere to be found.
oh. and that 1.34 billion dollars? doesn't include the 11 million dollars that is supposed to be going towards "physical and mental health services" don't get me started on the need for a mental health task force right now. that's a story for another day. you have no idea how many prescriptions for xanax and paxil i see during an 8 hour day. i talked to krentel - his whole job revolves around improving statewide mental health services - and he doesn't even know what has been set up to provide citizens with access to a mental health professional.
again, TELL ME WHERE YOUR MONEY IS REALLY GOING, red cross.
so the moral of my story: don't give money to the red cross. because we're not going to see it again. i don't know where it goes, but it is not here in new orleans. where it is needed. i have seen the salvation army around - giving out meals when lakeview opened to residents, collecting clothes, cleaning up the neutral ground on esplanade ave. down the street from where i work, at the corner of frenchmen and royal, i see a sign that says free hot meals every day for lunch. obviously, i see FEMA and the national guard. oh, but no red cross.
just food for thought. and i recommend the dark roast coffee at la boucherie.
posted by Catherine at 1:35 AM
1 Comments:
it sickens me every time i see a donation site (tip jar, t-shirt sale, whatever) set up for the hurricane/allproceedstoredcross. my mom told me, at the very beginning of all this, how screwed up the red cross was. she was like, do you know how much the head of the red cross makes in salary? like, millions of dollars.
there's been a quiet backlash in baton rouge. at the ivan neville show at sogo, he spent a chorus of one song musing on the red cross--"do you ever wonder where that money goes? i'm just saying. do you ever think, will we see any of it? or are people just getting rich."
at perks, a local coffee joint, they're selling bumper stickers and t-shirts, arranged by a group of 20something Enthusiastic Young Professionals, advising us to Move Back New Orleans! because how else are we going to jump-start the economy. and in parentheses the sign explains that all proceeds go to benefit some local business relief fund, because local businesses are the backbone of the community.
and i say:
support local business.
and:
screw the red cross.
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