Justice Court, Community History Project, and FEMA Appeals
Sorry we haven't been updating as frequently as I'd hoped. They are keeping us b-u-s-y down here!
Tuesday morning, we separated to sit in on different justice courts in the area to watch eviction proceedings. Vers and I ended up in rural Poplarville, a 1-1/2 hour drive from Gulfport. There were some fun cases on the civil docket, and just two landlord-tenant cases. One woman had six kids and was working 60 hours a week to get by, but she got evicted for not being able to pay the rent. Other cases involved Katrina-related things, too, like a contract case involving a roofing contractor who collected payment and didn't finish the job. It is heartbreaking to hear the same stories over and over again--people losing their jobs, not being able to make their bills, homes going into foreclosure, cars all messed up from the storm, etc. It's emotionally exhausting.
Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday I worked on a historical project, talking to local people and learning about two black neighborhoods in Gulfport: Turkey Creek and Magnolia Grove. It was fascinating to talk to the residents--we'll write a bit more about that later.
This morning, we worked at a clinic to help people prepare and file FEMA appeals. This was my favorite part of the trip so far, because it was so practical. We worked one-on-one with people to help them sort out their issues, get their documents in order, and contact FEMA to figure out the status of their claims and file appeals. So many people showed up to the clinic we had to turn some of them away despite the fact that our whole team worked nonstop for 3-1/2 hours. The work was so rewarding, but again, emotionally exhausting. There are so many hoops for these people to jump through to get every little bit of money from FEMA, I'm amazed at their ability to keep it together. I made several calls to FEMA on behalf of people this morning, and actually found them to be really patient, nice, and even helpful. Generally, though, there is a very low opinion of FEMA ("Failure to Effectively Manage Anything") down here.
Tuesday morning, we separated to sit in on different justice courts in the area to watch eviction proceedings. Vers and I ended up in rural Poplarville, a 1-1/2 hour drive from Gulfport. There were some fun cases on the civil docket, and just two landlord-tenant cases. One woman had six kids and was working 60 hours a week to get by, but she got evicted for not being able to pay the rent. Other cases involved Katrina-related things, too, like a contract case involving a roofing contractor who collected payment and didn't finish the job. It is heartbreaking to hear the same stories over and over again--people losing their jobs, not being able to make their bills, homes going into foreclosure, cars all messed up from the storm, etc. It's emotionally exhausting.
Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday I worked on a historical project, talking to local people and learning about two black neighborhoods in Gulfport: Turkey Creek and Magnolia Grove. It was fascinating to talk to the residents--we'll write a bit more about that later.
This morning, we worked at a clinic to help people prepare and file FEMA appeals. This was my favorite part of the trip so far, because it was so practical. We worked one-on-one with people to help them sort out their issues, get their documents in order, and contact FEMA to figure out the status of their claims and file appeals. So many people showed up to the clinic we had to turn some of them away despite the fact that our whole team worked nonstop for 3-1/2 hours. The work was so rewarding, but again, emotionally exhausting. There are so many hoops for these people to jump through to get every little bit of money from FEMA, I'm amazed at their ability to keep it together. I made several calls to FEMA on behalf of people this morning, and actually found them to be really patient, nice, and even helpful. Generally, though, there is a very low opinion of FEMA ("Failure to Effectively Manage Anything") down here.
posted by Petosker at
1:29 PM
