Recovery and Renewal for the Gulf Coast

Anniversaries are filled with memories. For me, it's been 25 years since I moved away from New Orleans and this was my first time back since the brutal storm. I'd come with my colleagues to commemorate the second anniversary of Katrina and to meet our partners who are rebuilding their lives and their communities.

On our first day, we attended the "Recovery and Renewal for the Gulf Coast" policy conference held at Dillard University. The goals for the day were to close the "access gap" between those who know the Gulf Coast's reality and national policymakers, and to go beyond telling individual stories to analyze public policies and their impact.

Unfortunately, few policymakers attended. The ones who did were those who have already been active on Capitol Hill on Gulf Coast recovery -- Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA), Bill Jefferson (D-LA), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). Senator Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) chair sat empty throughout the afternoon, and no one representing the governor's office, the state house, FEMA, or HUD attended. None of the presidential candidates were to be found.

They missed hearing an earful.

Local advocates described how, by failing to deliver the necessary resources, the Road Home program has not lived up to its name. Congress has appropriated money, but it doesn't seem to get to those most in need. When UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast partner Tyrone Edwards got his chance to speak, he gave the policymakers and the audience a real civics lesson. He said, "putting FEMA in charge of investigating the toxic trailers is like putting Dracula in charge of the bloodbank!" One advocate from Mississippi had grown so frustrated with the state's insurance policies that he is now running for state insurance commissioner. These are folks who are not complaining about the obstacles they face; they are doing everything in their power to fix them.

Our second day started with a sunrise service in Waveland, Miss. This community took a direct hit when Katrina came ashore on August 29, 2005, and was literally blown off the map. The STEPS Coalition, a UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast partner, organized an inspiring interfaith, multicultural service to reflect on their losses and to plant a Magnolia tree to sustain their hope in the future. It was fitting that we began in darkness and moved into the light.

We ended our day 15 hours later at another memorial service organized by our friend Tyrone Edwards and the Zion Travelers Cooperative in Plaquemines Parish. The gathering was held in a church restored by the community with the help of Unitarian Universalist volunteers and support. Martha Thompson, UUSC's Rights in Humanitarian Crises program manager, and UUSC President Charlie Clements were given certificates of appreciation and asked to say a few words to the standing room-only crowd.

It was hard to compete with the six Baptist ministers who also preached that night, but the sentiments were clear: whatever help we have been to this community in no way compares to the inspiration they are to all of us.