Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

69% of poor evacuees are here to stay (Houston)
Houston Comical ^ | 9/8/06 | ALLAN TURNER

Posted on 09/08/2006 9:10:11 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat

Life in Houston hasn't been easy, with many lacking health insurance, jobs, survey finds

Houston may be hot, unfriendly and frustratingly difficult to navigate, but more than two-thirds of the poorest New Orleans evacuees who fled to the city after Hurricane Katrina plan to stay, a Rice University survey released today shows.

Almost 69 percent of the 1,081 people queried in the National Science Foundation-funded study conducted in July by political science professors Rick Wilson and Robert Stein said they likely will remain in Houston. That figure is up from about 57 percent in October and 51 percent in September 2005.

Wilson and Stein say their findings reflect the view of 35,000 to 40,000 evacuees, about one-fourth of the displaced New Orleanians thought to be living in the city.

The study found life for poor evacuees in Houston has been difficult.

Almost half have no health insurance. Nearly a third lack a high school diploma. Three-fifths reported they held jobs in New Orleans, but almost half earned less than $15,000 a year. At present, less than 20 percent are employed and about 74 percent earn less than $15,000.

"This means a couple of things," Wilson said. "One: They have little to go back to. Most of the group were renters, and the rental situation in New Orleans is pretty bleak. Second: Many of them had been working in the service industry, and that is still a little rocky there. ... Houston is looking at continuing to shelter a population that didn't want to be here in the first place. The chances of finding something to go back to are pretty slim. That raises questions of how they are going to be integrated into the city."

One of the few bright spots noted by the evacuees was the state of education. Fifty-seven percent of respondents found Houston schools superior to what they left behind. Only 13 percent considered Houston schools worse.

Tensions about crime

The survey results are released today as tension about evacuee-related crime has led to calls for evacuees to be sent packing. In late August, more than 1,700 westside residents attended a session with Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold Hurtt, who announced formation of a 140-officer unit to combat crime in evacuee-filled neighborhoods there.

Police report that 59 of the 262 Houston murders between Jan. 1 and Aug. 26 involved Katrina evacuees as victims or suspects.

White spokesman Frank Michel warned Thursday that it is "unfair to judge the many by the conduct of the few" but reiterated the mayor's assertion that housing for criminals would be provided in jail.

"We've got to point out that we got between 200,000 and 300,000 evacuees," Michel said, "and apparently 130,000 to 150,000 remain. We got a cross-section — everybody from the boardroom to the guy who cleans the boardroom. People with work histories found jobs, transferred jobs and moved businesses. Yes, there are some people who may not match the market here and a number who are retired. ... Our challenge is to lift those in the lower circumstances."

Employment help

To that end, two job fairs — the latest in August — have been conducted by The WorkSource. Sue Cruver, spokeswoman for the agency, said 69 jobs were filled in August, with 725 likely to be filled by the end of October. Cruver noted her agency has offered training in job skills and some trades.

White, Michel said, has emphasized that housing benefits are finite and able-bodied evacuees should seek work.

WorkSource labor market analyst Joel Wagher said Houston's unemployment rate stands at 5.5 percent. He added that a variety of jobs can be obtained with only a high school diploma. In 2002, for instance, there were 76,000 sales clerk jobs, and that number is expected to increase by 12,000 in just six years.

The problem, he said, is that such positions bring small paychecks. "What's declining," he said, "are high-paying manufacturing jobs."

"The problem is more structural," said Nation of Islam Minister Robert Muhammad. "Houston is not primarily a tourist city and New Orleans was." Much of the city's economy, he said, emphasizes health care, space and other high-tech callings.

"Plus," he said, "when you factor in transportation and the cost of living, it makes it extremely difficult to survive on that economic level."

Sense of hopelessness

Wagher noted that some applicants have difficulty reaching job interviews. Evacuees participating in the survey peppered their responses with such observations as, "I've never lived in any place this large," "Things too far off," and "Always getting lost on the highway."

They complained, too, that they felt alienated in the big city, with 76 percent reporting loneliness and 61 confessing a sense of hopelessness about the future. Almost 30 percent said their health has declined since Katrina.

Houstonians, Muhammad said, must be "tolerant and generous" and work to instill a sense of independence and self-sufficiency in evacuees.

"Texas is going to have to urge the rest of the country to recognize the systemic problem with poverty and racism in the country," he said. "We in Texas will have to show the rest of the country how it's done. How to help a person. Instead of giving them a fish, teaching them to fish."

Reasons to return Meanwhile, he said, New Orleans needs to immediately reopen minimally damaged public housing units. The Housing Authority of New Orleans could not be reached for comment Thursday, but its Web site contended 1,000 families have been allowed to return to public housing.

"Based on an extremely slow rebuilding process in New Orleans and the shortage of affordable housing, it's clear that people don't have the alternative to return," said Ginny Goldman, spokeswoman for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "People do want to go home ... but they're starting to lose hope."

Jacqueline Jones, an organizer for the Jeremiah Project, a New Orleans advocacy organization, said rents in the city have tripled.

"Before Katrina," she said, "a house might rent for $700 or $800. Now you couldn't get into it for less than $1,500. It's not just lower income people who are affected. Their problem is there just isn't any housing stock."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2006election; corruption; election2006; houston; howtostealanelection; katrinaaftermath; ratsnest; votefraud
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-76 next last
"The problem is more structural," said Nation of Islam Minister Robert Muhammad.

LOL, of all the advocates the reporter could have interviewed he chose a Nation of Islam leader? If his intent was to write a sympathetic article then he's a fool (media, par for the course) because that kind of source can only backfire.

1 posted on 09/08/2006 9:10:12 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat

So did they commit vote fraud in voting to re-elect Mayor Nagin since they were not living in New Orleans and were not returning?

Will they be voting in the Houston elections in November?

Must be nice getting to vote twice.


2 posted on 09/08/2006 9:14:02 AM PDT by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat

Just WHAT on earth would these people do WHEN GOVERNEMNT HELP - welfare, housing, job creation was NOT here or available? In the beginning, people HAD to make it happen. Now we have cradle to grave government slaves. They're addicted to government money as an entitlement. It's compassion run amok.


3 posted on 09/08/2006 9:14:13 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 1riot1ranger; Action-America; Aggie Mama; Alkhin; Allegra; American72; antivenom; Antoninus II; ...

Houston PING (thank you Mayor Bob-White)


4 posted on 09/08/2006 9:14:43 AM PDT by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat

No good deed goes unpunished.


5 posted on 09/08/2006 9:15:09 AM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat

Probably on his speed dial.

The Houston Chronic is more liberal than even the Austin paper. (The Chronic was the paper had the "W" pigtail girl pdf file named as "brainwashed" on its website.)


6 posted on 09/08/2006 9:15:20 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat

The reason those people were standed after the hurricane was not because of some transportation equipment that was in Iraq...but because there was nowhere for them to go because no city wanted what they knew would be a long-term dollar drain. Their concerns were certainly well-founded.


7 posted on 09/08/2006 9:16:21 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

Maybe because Houston has a "REAL" evacuation plan for incoming hurricanes.


8 posted on 09/08/2006 9:16:50 AM PDT by excalibur1701
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: nmh

And now WE'RE stuck with them!

Texan


9 posted on 09/08/2006 9:18:11 AM PDT by cowdog77
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat

The MMM, brothers under the cloth of the KKK.


10 posted on 09/08/2006 9:18:17 AM PDT by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat
Houston may be hot, unfriendly and frustratingly difficult to navigate

Yes, Houston was extremely unfriendly to take in all those refugees. And New Orleans was well-known for its cold temperatures and mathematically laid-out street grid.

11 posted on 09/08/2006 9:19:29 AM PDT by wideawake ("The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten." - Calvin Coolidge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: excalibur1701

HA. The Rita disaster shows that to be laughable. Mayor Bob-White lied about reversing 290 for contra-flow AND about using the southbound side of 290 to truck in supplies (food/gas).

He was still telling drivers to GO GO GO when the roads were choked.


12 posted on 09/08/2006 9:19:54 AM PDT by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: cowdog77
You have my sympathy. A good deed is not turning out well ... if ONLY the recipients of your open hearts could be rewarded with THEM stepping up and getting OFF THE DOLE. I consider that MOST UNGRATEFUL, that they are NOT doing this. It's a disincentive to do this again - instead of the opposite.
13 posted on 09/08/2006 9:20:29 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: cowdog77

I work with about 8 forme NO residents. Not all are bad, these are hard working and either have or are looking into buying homes here in Houston.


14 posted on 09/08/2006 9:21:21 AM PDT by Hydroshock ( (Proverbs 22:7). The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: weegee

OK....maybe a should have said "better evacuation plan" then Nagrin's. haha


15 posted on 09/08/2006 9:22:00 AM PDT by excalibur1701
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: excalibur1701

We do?


16 posted on 09/08/2006 9:26:17 AM PDT by Xenalyte (who is having the best day ever! ouch)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat
Houston is looking at continuing to shelter a population that didn't want to be here in the first place. The chances of finding something to go back to are pretty slim. That raises questions of how they are going to be integrated into the city."

My suggestion: concentration camps.

Oh wait. That was mean.

17 posted on 09/08/2006 9:31:04 AM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nmh

Most of the poorest were living in old, small rundown houses that the owners had rented at a low rate - when these houses are destroyed, did people expect the owners to be able to build new houses and rent them for the same low price so they could move back in ?

Simply unrealistic to believe that these unfortunate folks will be going back to the same life they were living.


18 posted on 09/08/2006 9:31:19 AM PDT by RS ("I took the drugs because I liked them and I found excuses to take them, so I'm not weaseling.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: wideawake
unfriendly

Houston is anything but unfriendly, in my experience.
19 posted on 09/08/2006 9:31:56 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat
No good deed goes unpunished.
20 posted on 09/08/2006 9:32:11 AM PDT by msnimje (What part of-- "DEATH TO AMERICA" --do the Democrats not understand?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-76 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson