Relief funds come quick for some, not so quick for others at Southern

As of this week, the American Red Cross has provided $854 million in emergency financial assistance since the hurricanes hit. Meanwhile FEMA financial assistance surpassed the $3.1 billion mark.
At Baton Rouge’s Belmont Hall, the American Red Cross distributed funds to hurricane victims in Louisiana last Friday and debit cards were previously issued to victims. The funds were intended to help with costs of transportation, food, shelter and clothing Also, after the hurricanes hit, victims were allowed to apply for $2,000 in emergency funds per household.
Junior political science major and New Orleans native Joshua Howard and his two friends camped out on the concrete sidewalk in front of Belmont Hall around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Howard and his friends wanted to make sure they were part of the first batch to collect relief funds from the Red Cross.
“I lived in the Ninth Ward and there is nothing to go home to,” Howard said. “I lost everything. My clothes, car, shoes, football trophies, all that’s gone.”
Howard watched the horrifying scenes of Katrina’s aftermath on television of how destroyed his neighborhood and hometown at his apartment in The Palisades.
He said he truly needed this money. When he and his friends first arrived, there were only a few people. When he woke up, the line of people curved around the building.
Howard said he would receive a check for about $1600 from the Red Cross. His family that was still in New Orleans, is now living with him — all 10 of them. He said he plans to take $600 and buy a new backpack, clothing and shoes, and help his family out with other necessities.
“I want to buy my mom a birthday gift because when her birthday passed I did not have any money,” he said.
Howard also said he plans to invest about $1,000 for his future,
For Latoya Lewis, her FEMA assistance came in handy — twice.
“I gave some money to my mother for traveling expenses and food,” she said.
Lewis, a senior business management who previously attended Dillard University, received the money after Katrina ransacked New Orleans. Then two weeks ago, Hurricane Rita pounded the Louisiana and Texas coastline and did the same thing to her hometown of Lake Charles.
Lewis said since Rita hit, her mother travels from Baton Rouge, where she is living with a family friend, to Lake Charles every week to access the damage of her home and the homes of friends and relatives who evacuated. Lewis said they have already spent about $250 on gas alone.
Lewis also used her money for things she recently purchased to begin the school year.
She bought new textbooks, bedding and toiletries for her dorm room; and clothing and a new laptop is on her list of things to purchase in the near future, she said.
Lewis said she planned to continue to use the rest of the FEMA funds wisely.
“No cars, no cell phones and no fancy jewelry,” she said.
Southern University played an integral part in contributing to relief efforts after Katrina. Students from New Orleans area schools were welcomed to enroll from schools affected by the hurricane. Southern University — New Orleans faculty and administrators were also welcomed to come and work.
“God blessed us and we were able to get FEMA,” said Carolyn Rainey, SUNO director of purchasing. She is now working in the Joseph S. Clark Administration Building, along with a plethora of other SUNO administrators.
She said she received about $4,000 in aid from FEMA after two deposits of emergency funds. Rainey said she and her family of eight evacuated to Baton Rouge the day before Katrina hit and stayed with her granddaughter, Candace Brown, a junior nursing major, in her one-bedroom apartment.
After two weeks of looking for housing in Baton Rouge, Rainey said she and her husband finally found an apartment.
“I purchased furniture, a mattress, a bed frame and a sofa,” she said. She said she also purchased a dinette table and television.
“I also used some of the money to purchase clothes to work in,” she said. Rainey said she spends an average of $45 a week on gas. The rest of her FEMA funds will go to monthly rent and utilities for her new apartment.
Baton Rouge did not receive a direct hit from Rita, but many residents experienced a loss of power, downed trees and flooding in some areas.
LaConga Hilliard, a sophomore speech pathology major, said her 1990 Honda Accord received water damage due to flooding after Rita and she is without transportation because her car will not start properly. Hilliard applied for FEMA assistance Sept. 24 and has not received any monetary assistance yet.
“He (an inspector) came to inspect my car last Friday, but I have not heard anything yet,” Hilliard said.
The process could be a little bit faster, Hilliard said and feels she should have received some aid by now because people are telling untrue stuff and FEMA is sending them money.