Gulf coast recovery efforts continue

May 10, 2007

Tony Sferlazza, Plenty Gulf coast recovery field director, visited and interviewed two families from the neighborhood he is living in about their housing situations. He reports:

Julie Vicknair is a 38 year old single mother with 12 year old son. They did not have flood insurance and have not applied for the Road Home. They got tired of living in the FEMA trailer and moved into their two bed room house that is unfinished. Julie gave an out-of-state contractor ten thousand dollars to get them back in and were ripped off . The contractor is now wanted for the crime of taking money from many people and not giving any services in return. She asked me if people though out this country know what is going on here? And I must say I don't think so. A kind man came from Canada last year and gave her appliances.Julie's dad who is handy has cancer and has no strength to aid her. She has most of her material but needs someone to show her how to install. She's willing to do most of the work if she could get volunteer help.

Linda Audibert (right) with Tony, Elaine and two grandchildren

Linda Audibert has a daughter 18 who has two children and lives with her. Showed me their FEMA trailer that was full of mold so they moved into their gutted home. She received an insurance check of ten thousand dollars, But used most of it paying high rent in FL were she was sent after Katrina. Linda applied for the Road Home but still has not heard from them. Her home needs everything. She stared to cry when I told her we might be able to help her. This home is in unsafe living conditions with grass growing though the floor. She has stockpiled cans of food and has a shopping cart on the front lawn for anybody to come and take if they need food. The attached photos show Linda's house and bathroom. It would probably cost a minimum of $10,000 to make her house safe and livable with free labor.

Tony talking with Ms. Emma in her gutted home.

Then there's Ms. Emma. Today we will work up an estimate for sheet rocking her house which she gutted herself (she is 83). Iray at St. Bernard Parish Community Center got her a good deal for sheet rock. Ms. Emma has a little money and is supposed to get $80,000 from Road Home. We have already installed the electric and a hot water heater. Ms. Emma needs help to coordinate her contractors to make sure she doesn't get ripped off.

Continued by Peter Schweitzer,

Tony at the Non-Profit Center

Today Tony met with the St. Bernard parish Long-Term Recovery Committee. Other members of the Committee include Iray and the St. Bernard Parish Community Center, the Salvation Army and United Way. They are asking Tony to act as their housing liaison and do for other families what he has been doing for Ms. Emma. He would visit families and assess their reconstruction needs and make an estimate and connect them with honest contractors certified by Tony and the Committee. The folks at the meeting were very grateful that Tony could fulfill this much-needed function but they have no money to pay him at this point. What they will give us is a letter requesting his and Plenty's services and software that they have developed to do the estimates based on local prices for materials, with the possible opportunity later for a paid position if the funding they are going after comes through.

Tony says FEMA is saying they are going to close the FEMA trailer parks in St. Bernard Parish which now hose some 700 people. Many of these folks were renters so they don't have other options.

Visit the Katrina relief efforts home page to view other projects Plenty has been doing on the gulf coast.