Out of New Orleans, Into Denver:

Praise for Local Efforts Benefitting Katrina

And Gulf Coast Evacuees

by Annette Walker

“Denver has performed brilliantly with coordination and collaboration between relief agencies and community assistance groups on behalf of the evacuees. Work in other locations has not developed the functioning consortium that exists in Denver.”

Dr. Warren Harrity

Executive Director

Katrina Aid Today

Washington, D.C.

New Orleans residents Stanley and Queen Esther Riley wait to be evacuated from a Highway 10 bridge on Sept.10, 2005.  They were taken to an area set-up for medical checkups and then to the airport. "We were directed to an airplane, but were not told where it was going," said Stanley.  "After we had been in the air about a half hour, they announced that the plane was going to Denver, Colorado."

Click to read the Sept 05 Denver Post article

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast one year ago, resulting in the greatest displacement of people and the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

According to the 2000 U. S. Census, the New Orleans population was 484,000. In January 2006, four months after Hurricane Katrina, the Mayor’s office announced that the population was 180,000 and that over 60,000 residences in New Orleans were beyond repair.

An estimated half a million people remain displaced and their return to New Orleans and Mississippi in the near future is uncertain. On May 31 of this year the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) terminated Gulf Coast evacuees from general Disaster Assistance and put them on the Individual Assistance program. In order to remain on Individual Assistance, evacuees must file for recertification monthly and prepare and update a personal recovery plan. FEMA has discontinued making direct rental payments and security deposits to landlords. This change has prompted some landlords to issue termination notices to evacuees.

FEMA will assist each household up to a maximum of $26,200. Those who have been living in a holding pattern i.e. wanting to return home, but impeded because their homes and some workplaces have been destroyed, are now thrust into the final phase of federal financial assistance

For many people, what began as a temporary, emergency situation is transforming into an ominous permanency. Not all evacuees are like the young African-American man who, upon disembarking from an airplane in Denver, looked around and told reporters, “I love it here. I want to stay here. I don’t ever want to go back to New Orleans.” Attribute his declaration to the spirit of adventure associated with youth or to the lure of the picturesque beauty of the Mile-High City at the foot of the majestic, snow-capped Rockies. Many do not share his feelings. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are their homes and they want to return.

The media, understandably, has focused upon the devastation and rebuilding challenges on the Gulf Coast as well as upon stories of the plight of the evacuees. Less attention has been paid to cities throughout the country and the way they have handled their new populations, originally thought to be a special category of visitors but whose future is now unknown.

Denver, Colorado is receiving praise for the collaborative efforts that have been created to assist the evacuees. “The scale and scope of the Gulf Coast disaster makes it impossible for any one agency to handle all issues,” said Warren Harrity, executive director of Katrina Aid Today, a Washington D.C. nonprofit organization created to handle case management for evacuees. “Collaboration is often difficult for disparate organizations or those not accustomed to coordinating,” he continued. “Denver has overcome most of the obstacles.”

Within a few weeks of the arrival of the evacuees to Denver, new organizations dedicated to providing long-term assistance began to emerge.

Colorado’s Operation Safe Haven

A few days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on New Orleans, the mayor of Houston accepted 150,000 evacuees, many of whom had endured a week’s stay in the New Orleans Superdome, only to find themselves sheltered in Houston’s Astrodome. Some Houstonians are attributing competition for jobs and rise in crime to the evacuees.

Thousands more were taken to Dallas, San Antonio and other areas of Texas, prompting the governor to put in a call for help to his colleagues in neighboring states.

Governor Bill Owens of Colorado agreed to accept evacuees, but he and other state officials insisted upon a manageable number of people. The Governor wanted to avoid converting sports stadiums, public auditoriums or large entertainment facilities into shelters.

Denver was fortunate to have a site that was not only available as housing for 500 people, but had the potential to function as a central location for all services and activities related to the nearly 2,000 evacuees that eventually arrived in the city. One observer later quipped that the use of the former Lowry Air Force base allowed for a “One Stop Shopping” scenario.

For Pastor Larry Brown of the Lowry Community Church, the use of the former military barracks (now called dormitories) for the evacuees had a paradoxical twist. “Homelessness has been an important issue for me and the Alliance,” he said. (He was referring to the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance, the organization of African-American clergy.) “A few weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit, I had an appointment with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to present the idea of using the empty Lowry dormitories to house the homeless,” he continued. “City officials were not particularly interested, but communication and a relationship were established.”

Like the dormitories, Brown’s church is located on the former Air Force Base. “The military had used it as a chapel and featured a Gospel service,” he recounted. “When the base closed in 1994, many military families that remained in Denver wanted the Gospel Service to continue.” The chapel was reestablished as the Lowry Community Church that same year. It is non-denominational and multiethnic. Brown has pastored there for four years.

Within days after the hurricane hit New Orleans, Colorado state officials and Denver city officials asked Brown to join the emergency response team. The Red Cross and other clergy were part of the group, dubbed Operation Safe Haven. Their goal was to prepare for the arrival and temporary stay of a few thousand evacuees.

The first order of business was to clean the dormitory and prepare the surrounding grounds. Reverend Brown recruited 35 members from his congregation, volunteers came from other churches, from Lowry’s multiethnic neighborhood, and a crew from a local jail was brought in to help.

“We cut short the 11 a.m. Sunday service so that church members could go to Lowry to help with the cleanup,” said Reverend Del Phillips of the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church, one of the largest congregations in the African-American community.

Over the Labor Day weekend, several hundred volunteers worked around the clock to get the dorms ready. On Monday, September 4 the evacuees began to arrive.

Each room in the three-storied dormitory had two sections, each with twin beds. A common area with a toilet and shower divided the sections. Within a few weeks, the dormitory was filled to capacity with close to 500 people – men, women and children. However, they constituted only 25 percent of the total number of evacuees that arrived in Denver.

“The Denver Chapter of the Red Cross registered 1,942 individuals from the Gulf Coast, about half from New Orleans and half from Mississippi,” said Robert Thompson, media relations coordinator of the Mile-High Red Cross. “There were more evacuees housed at local hotels than at Lowry,” he continued. “And some stayed at the hotels much longer than those at Lowry. At Christmas time there were still some people at the hotels.” Thompson also said that an additional 5,000 evacuees were present in other parts of Colorado

Regardless of residential location, all evacuees had to go to the Lowry area. Information about FEMA benefits, medical assistance, clothing and personal supplies, future housing and employment, locating family in other parts of the country, school enrollment for children, counseling and spiritual guidance was available at Lowry – and in many cases, only at Lowry.

“On the first day the evacuees arrived, the clergy convened to define the needs we perceived and the role of the churches in this situation,” said Pastor Greg McDonald, then director of the Outreach Ministry at the Heritage Christian Center, which is a nondenominational and multiethnic church.

“On Labor Day when the evacuees began arriving, we held an interfaith church service at Lowry,” he continued. “Then we established a chapel in a room on the first floor of the dormitory, and we also set up a tent outside to hold services.

“We decided that part of the role of the clergy coalition was to work at the human level and to provide spiritual aid and comfort,” explained McDonald. “We wanted to help the evacuees get past the phase of shock, crisis, trauma and grievance.”

For material support the Heritage Christian Center provided ground transportation. “We already owned a fleet of vans, so we were able to make transportation available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the entire two months that the Lowry dormitory was in use,” McDonald said. “We took people shopping, to beauty salons and barber shops, to various kinds of appointments, to special events and recreational activities,” he recounted. “The drivers were members of the Heritage Christian Center and were volunteers. No one was paid.”

“The evacuees were able to use the Heritage Center’s facilities, including the gymnasium and showers, barber shop, job resource center, and computer area,” said McDonald. “They also had access to the Center’s clothing and food supplies as well as the gift shop.”

Operation Backyard

The former Lowry Air Force base sat on 1,866-acres. After it was closed down, it was converted into a middle and upper-middle class residential area with newly paved streets, 20,000 new trees as well as elegant old trees that were moved rather than cut down, scenic trails and a golf course. A community college, private schools, a medical clinic and retail businesses rounded out community life.

Renee Lowe Bregman lives in the Lowry area. “Upon hearing that some evacuees would be housed at Lowry, I was eager to help in some way, but had no idea what to do,” she said.

Bregman’s husband and others from the neighborhood spent part of Labor Day weekend cleaning at the Lowry dormitory. That weekend, the Lowry area was in the midst of its annual Glory Days festival. Bregman and other Lowry residents erected a tent and hung a banner inviting evacuees from the dormitory to register for free tickets to any of the Glory Days activities and to take supplies the neighborhood had begun to collect for them.

“After Labor Day, about 150 residents from the neighborhood volunteered to help out during the two-month life of the Lowry dormitory,” she said. They named their activities Operation Backyard.

Bregman, Operation Backyard coordinator, said she was “all over the place.” She explained, “there was no set agenda in that situation and like other volunteers, I tried to help out with whatever needed to be done.”

One of the banks in the Lowry area created a trust for the evacuees. Operation Backyard brought collection buckets to the bank. Within a couple of weeks, about $21,000 in donations was received.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” exclaimed Bregman, referring to the Lowry experience. “During Glory Days on the Labor Day weekend I saw people from the neighborhood shaking hands with and embracing the evacuees. In the beginning I cried a lot,” she continued.

“The Lowry grounds reminded me of scenes from M.A.S.H. There were tents and trailers for medical setups, and clothing and supply distribution,” added Bregman.

Reflecting on the events at Lowry last fall, Bregman says, “This experience has shown me that more people are willing to help than we know about, but they have to know that there is a need, where to go and what to do. It’s about humanity and the verse in the Bible that says, ‘Do Unto Others…’”

The Lowry Period

“The Salvation Army hit the ground running,” said Pastor Brown. “From the first day to the last, they provided 24-hour food service at Lowry.”

Evacuees received emergency identification cards through a cooperative effort by the City of Aurora (adjacent to Denver), the Denver Sheriff’s Department and the Colorado Division of Emergency. The identification cards were used to gain access to all available emergency services, including medical, transportation and federal assistance. Colorado was the only state receiving evacuees that employed a credentialing system.

FEMA set up an on-site office at Lowry and gave adult evacuees an initial payment of $2,000 and ATM cards. Wells Fargo and other banks set up desk space and opened free checking accounts. Evacuees received cell phones of limited duration. Both FEMA and the Red Cross set up call-in telephone numbers so that evacuees could talk directly to representatives from the two organizations.

The Red Cross and Metro Volunteers, a nonprofit organization, helped staff the dormitory throughout the eight to 10 weeks that the dormitory was occupied. The Association of Black Psychologists was on hand to assist with counseling.

The response of the general public was phenomenal. “On any given day there were over 1,000 volunteers at Lowry,” said Linda Rice, Public Information Officer from the Colorado State Department of Local Affairs. “Individuals and organizations showed up with clothing and personal supplies as donations, and some just came to help. Some private businesses sent their employees and the military sent some personnel.”

Although it constitutes only 13 percent of the population of metropolitan Denver, the African-American community has had a prominent role in matters regarding the evacuees. In addition to volunteering and taking donations to Lowry, in mid-September the African-American community held a meeting to discuss the general situation.

On October 22, a group spearheaded by Rosalind Harris, publisher of Urban Spectrum, a monthly newspaper for and about African Americans, sponsored “Spectrum of Hope,” an all-day festival and tribute to the evacuees. Held at the Jackie Robinson Baseball Field at Lowry, the festival featured comedy, poetry, song, drumming and live bands.

The Unified Command (formerly the emergency response team) established the Family Assistance Center at Lowry. It served as a single convenient location for evacuees to access vital information about services such as food and clothing, housing, household goods and furniture, health and medical care, schools, transportation, employment, child care, recreation, and affiliation with religious and professional groups.

Internet computer access and assistance was made available for evacuees to link to Red Cross Family Links, register with FEMA and connect to e-mail.

“Lowry was never intended as permanent shelter,” said Rice. “We knew that people had to make decisions about whether or not they were going to stay in Colorado. Some people had relatives in other states and they had to make decisions.”

Throughout September it became apparent that the repair and rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast would not be happening in the near future. Thousands of people who wanted to return to their homes learned that they would not be able to go home any time soon.

“The Red Cross was obligated to remain involved with the Gulf Coast evacuees longer than any other disaster,” said Red Cross media coordinator Robert Thompson.

“In a meeting of the Unified Command, Barbara Kirkmeyer, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, told everyone to throw out the Manual of Disaster Response because this was a new situation,” said pastor Del Phillips. “We had to develop new strategies to transition from the crisis, the emergency phase to long-term intervention,” he noted.

According to Reverend Greg McDonald, the Unified Command identified three phases for which planning was necessary: One, The Access Phase, which took place the first few weeks in September, which involved locating families scattered throughout the country; Two, The Stabilization Phase, which included medical and health issues and obtaining basic information about schools, Social Security, jobs, and other issues related to relocation. Becoming familiar with metropolitan Denver was also emphasized. Three, The Relocation Phase, which involved getting people moved out of Lowry and into more permanent housing. For this, the Unified Command coordinated with various real estate associations.

Furnishing the future residences was challenging. The state of Colorado made available one of the former airplane hangars to store furniture and other supplies. Known as ”The Warehouse,” the project was administered by the Reverend Dale Bonnet of the clergy coalition and the Hearts of Denver, an organization formed in response to the arrival of the evacuees, which also raised funds and collected material donations.

By early November all evacuees had moved out of Lowry into new residences. Although they live in various parts of the metropolitan area, many remain in the Lowry vicinity. The Warehouse was moved from the Lowry hangar to a building in another part of the city.

“In its new location, the warehouse became a gathering place for evacuees because people were still selecting furniture and getting supplies” said Margaret DuPlantier, a volunteer. “There was a potluck dinner and Christmas party.”

Cure d’Ars Parish Assists at Lowry and in Mississippi

Cure d’Ars Roman Catholic parish has taken an active role. Located about four miles from Lowry, its 400 parishioners are primarily African-American; some are from Louisiana. In addition to volunteering at Lowry and organizing a picnic for the evacuees on September 24 at a park near the church, the parish sent aid to hurricane ravished Mississippi.

On September 10, the parish sent a truck filled with bottled water, clothing, blankets and other supplies to Mississippi. On September 16, a priest from a predominantly African-American Catholic church in Pascagoula, Mississippi, sent a distress message. The parish church and school had been devastated by the storm.

The next day, Cure d’Ars sent another truck packed with school desks, sewing machines and a plethora of other supplies to Pascagoula.

The Quest for Longterm Solutions

The awareness that the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast would not be imminent motivated relief agencies, faith-based and non-profit organizations to ponder longterm solutions for problems faced by the evacuees.

In October of 2005 FEMA announced that it would fund a program for case management in 29 states. In January 2006 Katrina Aid Today, established as a nonprofit organization to administer the program, commenced the training of case managers.

Denver has 5 case managers assigned to Volunteers of America, Catholic Charities and Lutheran Family Services. There are also 7 Hurricane Relief Counselors employed by the Colorado Department of Human Services. The Colorado Trust recently funded a counseling program for Gulf Coast evacuees. The Jefferson Center for Mental Health will administer the program.

“Our goal is to move people towards the next step in their longterm recovery” said Lindsay Ishman, a case manager with Lutheran Family Services. “We help them with searches for employment, childcare and affordable and permanent housing. And we work with other organizations that assist evacuees.”

The Colorado Coalition of Faith

and the Paraclete Partners

“In late September, the clergy coalition felt a need for a more formal way to collaborate and develop a structure that would allow us to be more effective,” said the Reverend Del Phillips. “In addition to a network of 200 churches, we were working with many non-clergy individuals.

“First we established the Colorado Coalition of Faith,” said Phillips, who was selected as chairperson. “Our basic mission was to assist in the transition from the crisis phase to a long-term recovery phase.”

The Colorado Coalition of Faith (CCF) identified transitional housing, job skills and adaptation to the new environment as priorities. “We have raised funds for some individuals to return to the Gulf Coast,” said Phillips. He pointed out, however, the CCF does this only after close scrutiny of an individual’s situation.

Another priority was creating one-on-one assistance for the evacuees. “We think of it as a partnership or people helping people,” said Phillips. The concept was named ‘paracletes’ and was based on a Biblical reference to a person who is ‘called to the side of’ and hence an ‘advocate.’ In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ promises disciples that when he departs he will send them another ‘paraclete’ to remain with them.

Almost every aspect of involvement with the evacuees, whether Operation Safe Haven or the organizations that emerged from it, had to proceed without precedents or guidelines. The governor’s emergency response team, the clergy coalition that became the Colorado Coalition of Faith, Hearts of Denver, Operation Backyard, even the Red Cross had to deal with issues as they emerged.

This was also true for the thousands of volunteers who appeared daily at Lowry. Red Cross volunteers had experience, but the Gulf Coast situation differed from other emergencies because of its magnitude and its impending longevity.

“At Lowry, sometimes volunteers took on tasks because there was no one else to do it,” said Eugene Thompson of Lutheran Family Services. The need for training was evident, and Thompson became Volunteer Training Support Coordinator.

Thompson trained approximately 100 volunteers, most of whom had church affiliations. Soon after, the term ‘paraclete’ came into use. Additional training has been held. There are about 120 paracletes working in teams based at churches.

Some paracletes work with more than one individual or family, although not everyone needs constant attention. They get in touch as needed. Sometimes paracletes provide transportation for appointments or shopping. Other times, they help fill out forms or interpret the layers of FEMA regulations.

CCF administers the Warehouse, which it has moved into its office building in Aurora, not far from the Lowry area. CCF also supervises the paracletes and handles all evacuee referrals for case management. “We call the CCF office the Control Tower,” said Gina Tate Norwood, the office administrator. ”We redirect calls to the appropriate specialist, counselor, case manager or paraclete.”

In early November CCF began publishing The Bridge, a bimonthly newsletter whose goal is to keep evacuees informed of activities and services offered in Colorado.

The Hurricane Assistance Network of Denver (HAND)

“HAND was formed in October 2005 to serve as the long term recovery committee for evacuees,” said Rev. Sheila Johnson, president of the organization and pastor at St. Stephens Mission Church. “HAND is needed because some people continue to have significant unmet needs after personal resources, insurance and immediate disaster related government benefits are exhausted.”

Johnson said that the funds for the unmet needs are distributed to individuals and families through criteria and guidelines established by a subcommittee that is made up of seven individuals who represent their respective agencies. HAND has five subcommittees: Public Information, Administration, Case Manager Training, Resource Clearinghouse, and Unmet Needs.

HAND is comprised of 70 agencies, churches, and faith-based and nonprofit organizations. “We meet twice a month and the meetings are well-attended,” said Rev. Johnson. The Colorado Coalition of Faith plays a key role in HAND.

With Lowry vacated and the need for the Warehouse greatly reduced, evacuees had no place to mingle. Some case managers and counselors had difficulty contacting evacuees because their cell phone numbers had expired. Those with new numbers sometimes did not contact their managers and counselors.

In order to facilitate communication and the dissemination of information, HAND opened a Drop-In Center in April. Utilizing space in a community center in Exposition Park not far from the Lowry area, it was open on Fridays. “We had copies of recent editions of New Orleans newspapers and flyers about activities and services available to Katrina evacuees and their families,” said Rita Alexander, administrator of the Drop-In Center and Katrina specialist for Metro Volunteers.

“Many of the evacuees who showed up at the center needed help and I put them in touch with Gina at the Colorado Coalition of Faith for referral to a case manager,” she continued.

On June 1 Rev. Ronald Wooding and members of his congregation at Epworth Methodist Church organized an early evening activity at the Drop-In Center. “June 1 was the official beginning of the hurricane season as well as Inauguration Day for New Orleans reelected mayor Ray Nagin,” said Wooding. “ Some evacuees have been attending Epworth, so we hooked up a conference call to Mayor Nagin and congratulated him.” Wooding and Nagin have collaborated on several African projects.

In mid-July Cure d’Ars parish church and HAND co-sponsored a picnic at City of Axum park near the church. Several hundred parishioners and evacuees turned out. Some evacuees had termination letters from their landlords and signed up for case management.

HAND is planning an Interfaith service and picnic in commemoration of the first anniversary of the evacuee’s arrival to Denver from the Gulf Coast.

The Way Forward

“There are no homeless evacuees thus far,” said Rev. Del Philips. “However, we are concerned that some evacuees may become part of the homeless population.”

The disaster relief time clock is ticking. The $26,200 now available for a household can only be stretched so far. “Self-sufficiency is the goal, but there are many hurdles,” said Art Storey, FEMA regional director. “Affordable housing in Denver is scarce, and the city has had its share of job freezes and cutbacks.”

Storey pointed out the following housing options: 1) The Small Business Administration has homeownership loans available; 2) The Fannie Mae program helps lower income individuals to purchase homes; 3) The Stafford Act (Federal Disaster Relief legislation) allows $10,000 towards homeownership.

Storey also indicated that some evacuees should be accepted into the Department of Housing Authority’s Section 8 rental assistance program.

Employment is a key issue. Eugene Thompson is now Employment Specialist in the Disaster Relief division of Lutheran Family Services and is working with Katrina evacuees. “Some evacuees have found jobs on their own and don’t need my help,” he said. “I help others prepare resumes and applications and direct them towards appropriate job vacancies.”

Two natural disasters, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, uprooted and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Yet each person faces this existential dilemma alone and must select from the options available.

L-R: Clarence Brown, New Orleans evacuee and Jim Jacksina, Red Cross volunteer met at Lowry and have remained good friends.

Stanley and Queen Esther Riley plan to return to New Orleans before Fall commences. They own a home, which is undergoing repairs. Stanley has returned to New Orleans several times. “My neighbors are doing the repair work for me,” he said. Although they reside in the Seventh Ward, Stanley contends that the Ninth Ward will be revived. “The people of the Ninth Ward will not give up without a fight,” he exclaimed. The predominately Black Ninth Ward was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Clarence Brown does not own property in New Orleans, but has no illusions about remaining in Denver. “Eventually I will go stay with my sister in Arkansas until my apartment building is repaired,” he insists. “I’m going back to New Orleans.”

Steven Fazand worked as a sous chef at Copeland’s restaurant in New Orleans. “I had a good salary,” he said. “I called them and they said I can have my job back. However, I don’t have a place to stay.” Fazand has a wife and two small children, one of whom was born in Denver in March. “Without a place to stay in New Orleans, I cannot take my family there, and I don’t want to be there and have them here.”

Virginia Keys visited New Orleans in the Spring. She cannot talk about her visit without crying. “It’s like a ghost town,” she lamented. “New Orleans is like a thing of the past.” Keys has decided to apply to the Fannie Mae program to see if she can buy a home in Denver.

Those who choose to remain in Denver have the love and support of a network of organizations and individuals committed to their adjustment and well-being.

“It is a blessing when you see what can happen when the people of Colorado come together,” said Rev. Phillips. “I hope this coalition can keep the flame alive to serve the thousands of people who are here and cannot go home.

This article is part of the Gulf Coast Fellowship Project, National Association of Black Journalists.

A Call To The Village

This event was co-sponsoed by Denver Alumni of Dillard University, the Black Law Students Association and the Center for Multicultural Excellence of the University of Denver.

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