Today will be another busy, tiring day for thousands who get on with the work of settling here in our city.
Thousands of volunteers and public servants will assist in the effort.
The response of both newcomers to Dallas and of all those who greet them has been amazing and inspirational to watch. Shopping at more than one store for supplies over the weekend, I discovered that the shelves had been cleaned out by compassionate people who got their first!
The months ahead will be filled with major challenges as folks attempt to find jobs, set up homes, educate their children and get on with life. Today is gratifying to watch, even as we continue to mourn the situation in New Orleans with so many dead, confused and lost.
Today will be a time of coming together around a common mission. May we have the courage and strength to carry on beyond these first, critically important days.
"If you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard." Proverbs 21:13
"Be generous and share your food with the poor. You will be blessed for it." Proverbs 22:9
"A good person knows the rights of the poor, but wicked people cannot understand such things." Proverbs 29:7
"Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless. Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9
I have also been impressed with the outpouring of compassion and generosity shown toward these victims here in Dallas in the first few days following the great crisis. I have spent time volunteering with the Red Cross at Reunion Arena where they had to stop receiving donations because there simply was no more room to put everything. Volunteers were stepping over each, eager to help. Its a great thing to witness and refreshing to see so much goodness and compassion in so many people. However, I can't stop wondering what is going to happen in a few weeks, a few months...when the shock of this disaster wears off and unaffected people move on with their lives, having made their donations and volunteered their time and can now safely pack their guilt away and return to normalcy. But life still won't be normal for the thousands of people who left New Orleans. The effects of this hurricane won't be so easy to push to the back burner for them. You know, when news of crises such as these first break, its easy to know how to help. Donate clothes, food, water. Write a check. There is a huge response because people feel capable of these things. These are relatively easy ways to channel the shock and compassion we all feel in watching these horrible events into some sort of "helping" action. Plus, they are ways of helping that don't really require a huge sacrifice or lifestyle change, yet you can sleep at night knowing you did SOMETHING.
ReplyDeleteBut my question is...will there be as much compassion and eagerness to accomodate 2-3 months from now when we're "tired" of hearing about Katrina, when we feel the victims have had ample time, attention, and resources to get back on their feet, and they go back to being the "unworthy" poor in America? This tragedy to me has highlighted our society's tendency to divide our struggling citizens into "worthy" and "unworthy" poor. We are more than willing to pour out resources to those we feel deserve it. And there are certain unspoken prerequisites for being worthy of compassion in this country, I've decided. In this case, a natural disaster bumped them up to the deserving category. But before when they were living and working and struggling in New Orleans, some with not much more than they have now, they weren't worth our attention. How long will this outpouring of compassion last? How patient will we be?
Already I'm wondering how to help six months from now. Perhaps others are too. The critical time for basic survival needs (food, water, shelter) is quickly being taken care of..but what about long term needs? How can people invest more in the recovery from this devestation than dropping off some bottled water at Reunion Arena and driving away? There is an overwhelming response to these short-term needs because the ways to help are practical and hands-on and feasible. The long-term needs aren't as clearcut. And they tend to make us uncomfortable. And might mess with some of our spiritual and political convictions. So will our society step up to the challenge a few months from now with the same intensity as the days following the storm? Or will it be easier to stuff our discomfort by dismissing these people and deciding enough has been done...its time for them to start pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps again? I hope not, but sadly, I've grown somewhat cynical about the sincerity of our society's (as a whole) compassion and concern for its struggling citizens.
But for those who are committed to the long-term recovery, perhaps we can start talking about some practical ways to help a few weeks and months from now. Of course, its hard to predict what the needs may be at this point, but maybe we can just start talking more about what will need to be done and how ordinary citizens can be a part. And how we can communicate those needs in a way that continues to engage the compassion and concern of people beyond the initial shock of disaster and changes the way we look at "the poor" in general. I know that is what CDM is about and I look forward to learning much in the next few weeks and months.
Thanks--Rachel Embry
Wow. The whole nation is watching Texas -- and it's very inspiring. Thanks for all "y'all" are doing.
ReplyDelete:)
Nancy
Rachel, the wisdom pouring from your young heart is astounding and most encouraging, but not surprising--I know you!
ReplyDeleteYou ask all of the correct questions.
Today, I, and others from the CDM community, have been out at the Dallas Housing Authority helping to transport our new neighbors to their new living quarters all over the area. The housing authority is doing a good job of getting folks who had Section 8 housing vouchers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama into Section 8 housing here in Dallas. I am so happy they are doing this.
However, it struck me, as I was driving a family to a new apartment, that there are lots of apartment owners who will take Section 8 vouchers here in Dallas, but there are not enough vouchers to cover the demand or to take full advantage of the supply.
This is due to the current established policy limits of HUD in Washington on the amount that can be spent on this voucher program. These limits also tend to discourage and slow down the development of the affordable housing market here in Dallas.
Interesting and ironic that our new neighbors from Louisiana will be given access to Section 8 units when "ordinary" low-income Dallasites are not regarded by our government as eligible--your word might be "worthy"--to receive these benefits even though they need them too.
This is the sort of public policy failure that affects in a negative way all of the other pressing concerns in the lives of urban families who have limited income and earning capacity.
A gentleman at our Atlanta church yesterday prayed publicly, thanking God "for the great state of Texas" for the way you all (you know, "ya'll") have opened up your arms to the poor, weak and frail who suffered through Katrina. Granted, the person praying was a Texan, but I still agreed with him. :-) I am amazed at the generosity of Texans, and I promise to stop saying bad things about all of you.
ReplyDeleteFor now.
:-)
Amen brother!
ReplyDeleteFirst Mom Barbara Bush yesterday walked past rows of poor and ailing refugees at the Houston Astrodome, then said, "So many of the people here . . . were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
ReplyDeleteLet's get real here. These people have been ruined by the welfare system. Why do we feel like we owe able bodied people any free ride? They can't even get off of their cots to cook and serve the food that was given to them by good hardworking people in the first place. When will it all end. Welfare should be for the truly needy. Not the lazy. Generation after generation of truly worthless takers are being created here. We have passed the point of no return. Jesus wants us to help those who are truly in need. Not the ones who will take and then cut their own mothers throat to get even more and never even think about working. So what if someones great, great, great, great, great, great Grandfather may have been a slave? Get real here. Look at the world you are giving your kids to live in. One day you won't even be able to leave the house because of all of the worthless criminals we have let multiply in every town. They truly think we owe them something just because they are here. If I decided not to work would I be considered underpriveleged or just a lazy bum? Well since I am white I would be a lazy bum. That makes sense doesn't it? No it doesn't. Wake up!!!
ReplyDeleteOwww!!! Comments and views like that really hurt.I'm a Katrina evacuee or should I say survivor. Before Katrina hit I struggled to pay my bills struggled to put my kid through school but I was happy in my own home happy with the accomplishments that I struggled for,all accomplished without a handout.I lost every single thing in my home nothing was able to be saved and I was forced to sit in soup kitchens forced to wear other folk clothes. When I realized that I couldn't return I sought out for employment to get myself back on track.So for the record it is not all black Katrina evacuees that chronic panhandlers.The good beyond no reason suffers for the bad. And by the way in the food stamp line there was a former police officer and his family of four in the line in front of me.
ReplyDeleteHave A Blessed Day