 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
September
24, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 15Oakland,
CA
CCEB issues Katrina assistance report
After Hurricane
Katrina uprooted the lives of thousands of people along the Gulf Coast
last August, charitable agencies all over the country responded with myriad
kinds of assistance – food and clothing, emergency housing, job
training, medical help, and transportation.
Catholic Charities of the East Bay was among those agencies and one year
later the agency has published an account of its work among 316 families
who fled to the East Bay.
The report features names, faces and human stories embedded within the
statistics.
Marilyn, for example, evacuated to the East Bay with her brother, sisters,
and four children. She and her children lived in a hotel for the first
four months after their arrival. In December, Marilyn’s father became
seriously ill and her brother returned to New Orleans to care for him.
Her father died before Christmas, then her brother became ill and died
in January.
Through CCEB funding, Marilyn and her family were able to travel to New
Orleans for her brother’s funeral.
Catholic Charities also provided emergency housing assistance in March
and April while Marilyn waited for her Section 8 housing certificate.
Despite the entire trauma, Marilyn got her oldest daughter back into high
school, and today that daughter is on her way to college.
Then, there is Curtis who worked as an auto mechanic and needs his own
tools in order to get a job as a mechanic. To replace the tools costs
several thousand dollars, which CCEB is hoping to secure through Bay KARE,
a long-term recovery committee established by Lutheran Social Services
in partnership with local churches and nonprofit organizations.
The report tells of Charlene, who evacuated to the East Bay with her high
school senior daughter and elderly mother. Despite almost losing her mom
to serious cardiac problems, Charlene continued her studies in medical
assistance training at Bryson College and plans to join the rest of her
family in Texas as soon as she completes her training. Her daughter is
now attending Texas A & M College. An affordable house is waiting
for Charlene in Texas, and Catholic Charities is trying to raise the funds
to help this family relocate.
Catholic Charities has helped Marilyn, Curtis and Charlene, and all of
its other clients through partnerships with parishes and individual parishioners
in the Oakland Diocese, the Red Cross, FEMA, Alameda County, and nonprofit
organizations throughout the East Bay.
An overview of financial assistance services during those 12 months shows
that CCEB dispensed a total of $6,021 to four families for funeral travel
and burial expenses for relatives; $31,900 in rental assistance for 27
families; $73,866 in housing and moving expenses for 142 families; $72,631
in basic needs grants for 276 families, $3,200 in emergency housing for
six families; and $8,292 in local transportation for 54 families.
CCEB is an arm of Catholic Charities USA, one of 12 organizations nationwide
that has been funded to develop a national case management system for
victims of Hurricane Katrina, said Millie Burns, CCEB’s director
of planning and program development.
To provide assistance, send contributions to Catholic Charities, Katrina
Financial Assistance Fund, 433 Jefferson St., Oakland, CA 94607. For further
information call Millie Burns at (510) 768-3188 or e-mail: millie@cceb.org
Sharne Hamilton of Oakland shares a candle with her daughters,
Kiely, 2, and Khia, 3, as the names of Hurricane Katrina victims are read
during a candlelight vigil at St. Columba Church, Aug. 23. The memorial
service was coordinated by Catholic Charities of the East Bay.
GREG TARCZYNSKI PHOTO
