APPLICANT OF THE DAY\r\n\r\nApplicant of the Day (AOTD) is a project inspired by people I met working at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center. AOTD is actually a collection of their stories- I hope they don’t mind; its original format was mass email to family and friends.\r\n Pre-Katrina I was a 2nd grade teacher at Dibert Elementary School in Orleans Parish. After the storm, I found myself as a FEMA “local hire,” headed for Vacherie, LA. The center was housed in the Vacherie Lions Club Bingo Hall, surrounded by sugar cane fields as far as you could see in every direction. I worked in the housing division, behind a laptop, receiving applicants, mostly evacuees from New Orleans. Together we tried to figure out how to get a little money from the government. \r\n\r\nPAM- AOTD 10.18.05\r\n\r\nDear team, \r\n \r\nI have decided that in order to filter out the negative and stressful of everyday, people from Vacherie whining about the wind that took the skirting off their trailer, uptowners who feel entitled to FEMA assistance because “everyone else is,” I will document in my spare time, some of the amazing people I meet everyday. In the midst of feeling sorry for myself for having a hard job, a weird living situation, and no car, I have failed to focus on the positive. In Applicant of the Day I am going to try to catalog one story a day as means of remembering, reflecting and sharing.\r\n \r\nWelcome to applicant of the day, inspired by Pamela of Kenner, Louisiana. I spent the first hour and a half of my working day with Pam. She owns a restaurant in New Orleans. She says it\'s gone now. Her son owns and operates (for those who have experience Mardi Gras) a couple of those mobile trailers that sell hot soul food at the parades. \"E LEE\'S, they\'re red and yellow with a rooster on a train as the logo.\" If you see them in 2006, give them a try, I imagine it\'ll be a pretty good meal. Her husband, to whom she\'s been married for 35 years, separated for 4, came to pick them up the Sunday before the storm hit. Pam says with all they\'ve been through since might bring them back together yet! \r\n \r\nThey evacuated, but ran out of gas just outside of town and rode the rest of the way to Houston in the back of a pick-up truck. Days, weeks pass; FEMA finally calls her to say they are sending an inspector to inspect her house, surely to be found flooded and re-flooded. So Pam, being the badass she is, rented a car in Dallas to drive straight through to Kenner in order to be there to meet the inspector. She spent two nights in that car, by herself parked in front of the ruins of her home of 17 years, no electricity anywhere for miles and the inspector never showed. Brave is not the word I’m searching for. \r\n \r\nSo, in FEMA, if the inspector calls you three times and you don\'t respond you turn up \"WNC,\" (withdrawn, no contact) and you are eligible for no further assistance with FEMA. That\'s how Pam came to wander into DRC (disaster recovery center) 15. We filed the necessary paperwork, etc and I faxed it off to what I call \'heaven\' because I swear that fax machine isn\'t plugged in, but what is really called the JFO (joint field office) in Baton Rouge. I can only hope that her case is resolved- and quick- because that woman and her family need some rental assistance something fierce- and $2358 is not going to go very far. \r\n \r\nThe point is that this woman is a beautiful, strong, amazing character. I cannot imagine her stamina. I often find \'personal encounters\' like these in the papers voyeuristic and weird. I hope that these will have a different tone. Although it is not the easiest or most comfortable situation, I am so grateful to be here, experiencing the re-emergence of this region first hand and I’m finding that it\'s pretty different (not surprisingly) than the understanding one can gain from reading the papers or watching the \'panic box,\' as Ryan calls it. \r\n \r\nAnother thing I worry about is forgetting, getting over the initial shock of Hurricane Katrina and moving on with our lives, simply because we can. I hope these stories will remind us that the experience of Hurricane Katrina is still in the present tense and will never be past in a sense.\r\n \r\nI feel sad that I will most likely never see these people again and never know if everything turned out ok. I’ve even started keeping some contact info, in hopes that I can find them again in New Orleans one day. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. \r\n \r\nAll the best from the beautiful bingo hall of Vacherie, x\'s and o\'s, \r\njp\r\n \r\nANDREW- AOTD 10.19.05\r\n\r\nToday it is Andrew, from the 119 (what?!) in New Orleans. Andrew is the Reverend at \"The Lord House of Prayer.\" His job is an integral part of his identity, so much so that when he registered for FEMA he chose \"MR\" as his title and went ahead and entered \"REV ANDREW\" as his first name! I love it. He is a cute old guy who wears hats like my grandfather used to. He has beautiful 50\'s style eye glasses with mother-of-pearl rims. \r\n \r\nHe returned to his home to find his locks changed and there is no answer to his repeated calls to the landlord. He has no way of proving to FEMA that he lived there because all his documents, not to mention his belongings are locked inside. I mean really, who evacuates with an Entergy bill? Even his driver\'s license shows a different address. \r\n \r\nHe has received no assistance from FEMA. He is still smiling and shrugging his shoulders a lot- unimaginable patience. \r\n \r\nWe live in the same neighborhood and enjoy and miss many of the same things. He especially misses Cafe du Monde and is very excited for its reopening tomorrow. A victory! He also misses and is eager to return to his routine- beignets and chicory coffee every morning at 6am, then his exercise on the riverwalk. He says \"See, I’m gettin\' fat from missin\' it!\" I couldn\'t really figure out if he meant the beignets or the walk and kind of figured that if you skipped both, they would probably cancel each other out, but instead of getting in to it, I just told him he looked pretty good to me and faxed his papers to heaven. \r\n\r\n6 weeks and counting since nothing has been routine for hurricane Katrina evacuees. Today, enjoy your daily routines for yourself, Andrew and everyone else who\'s skipping theirs again.\r\n \r\nbest, \r\njessie\r\n \r\nCALVIN- AOTD 10.20.05\r\n\r\nCalvin and Freddie are the best of friends and always come to the DRC together, but i\'m going to cover them separately in order to do them justice. \r\n \r\nWhen Calvin sat down I told him that that was my grandfather\'s name. He said, \"oh, and what business was your grandfather in?\" I said, \"the oil business.\" He said, \"oh my grandparents were in the iron and steal business- my grandmother ironed all day and my grandfather stole all night.\" \r\n \r\nAt this point Calvin’s face squishes up, his eyes close behind his thick rimmed glasses, he smiles so wide that I can see the gums in his toothless mouth, he leans back in the metal folding chair and repeatedly slaps his knee. \r\n \r\nAll of this is decidedly even funnier than Calvin’s pun and I, a sucker for old man jokes in the first place, am in stitches. \r\n \r\nWhen we finally get around to opening Calvin’s FEMA file I learn that he is a homeowner in Lutcher, La- sort of. the house was left to him by his parents when they died some forty-five years ago. Calvin himself is about 65 and he never bothered to have the deed changed. It is still in his late parents\' names and reads, C/O CALVIN, no last name. I guess in a little town like Lutcher that\'ll fly, but do you think FEMA\'s gonna go for that?! \r\n \r\nI asked Calvin if he didn\'t think it was time to go ahead and put the deed into his name. He said he guessed so. As he was leaving, Calvin said, \"Hey Miss Jessie, you think my friend Freddie could get him some assistance? See, Freddie, he got to be plugged in all the time so he can\'t go with out not lights.\" Unsure of what exactly being \'plugged in all the time\' entailed, I told Mr. Calvin to bring Freddie in and we\'d see what we could do. \r\n \r\nbest,\r\njp\r\n\r\nFREDDIE- AOTD 10.22.05\r\n\r\nYesterday was a busy day- I became the manager of the DRC and Johanna and I found a house! Yes, we are moving out of the plantation house with 20 roommates! Hence, the delay on AOTD. Today it is relatively quiet so I will be able to catch up. \r\n \r\nFreddie looks like Snoop Dog, but 80. He’s very soft spoken with a gravely voice. When he first came in, he asked Chris, the receptionist if he knew where he could pay his light bill, but Chris thought he said \"do you know where I can get a light beer?\" Chris told him he didn\'t know, he was from Missouri, but it was too early to be drinking anyway. Needless to say, both of them were a little confused. \r\n\r\nFreddie and Calvin are neighbors and best friends. They interact much like an old married couple. It seems that they really took care of each other throughout the storm experience. \r\n \r\nIt is true; Freddie has to be plugged in at all times, by which Calvin meant that he is on a respirator for some health conditions, so being \"without lights\" for any extended period of time is not an option. The number of ways experiences of this hurricane can be complicated continues to amaze me, particularly for the ill and elderly. In retrospect, evacuation was so easy as a young person in good health with no kids and a car (well, not my car...glug...glug). \r\n \r\nFreddie was evacuated to Baton Rouge where he stayed in a special health needs shelter in the LSU gym. He said that was pretty cool- he and Calvin are big into sports. (Calvin used to play for the Brewers- I saw his baseball card! I should have gotten his autograph.) Freddie said the lady at the shelter even gave him a plastic hospital bracelet that he knew he should have kept as proof for FEMA. I told him not to worry about it because I believed him anyway. \r\n \r\nFreddie is awesome and his is one of the first cases I have seen actually progress. We filled out his paperwork, faxed it to heaven/JFO and he actually received a check 2 weeks later. I’ll tell you what, that is a great way to make a friend. \r\n \r\nlove, \r\njessie\r\n \r\nOGLETHORPE- AOTD 10.24.05\r\n\r\nOglethorpe. He lived in the east, but used to live on my street, Grande Route St. John! He loves and used to frequent Liuzza\'s by the Track, a restaurant around the corner. We talked about how much we like their gumbo. It is truly a relief to talk to people about places in New Orleans. It’s as if you’re running into an old friend whom you haven’t seen in years, reminiscing about old times over a beer- but with strangers- and computers instead of beers. \r\n \r\nOglethorpe fully intends to return to the city. He says it\'s the only city he\'s ever really been comfortable in. I know what he means. He lost everything in his house (including his house) in the east so he might move back to Mid City, but he is definitely going back. \r\n \r\nThis makes me breathe a sigh of relief. Obviously New Orleans will never be the \"same,\" but without guys like Oglethorpe, New Orleans will never even resemble itself. Thanks to his strength, in the face of such devastation, we will all be able to return to a New Orleans that we recognize and love. It just wouldn\'t be the same with a city full of uptowners! \r\n \r\nYesterday was my first day off. it was sunny and warm with a cool fall breeze and I spent it in New Orleans. Progress is definitely evident. \r\n \r\nbest, \r\njp\r\n \r\nAPRIL AND DAVID- AOTD 10.26.05\r\n\r\nApril and David are from St. Bernard Parish. They have been in several times to deal with the bureaucracy that is FEMA assistance and I always enjoy seeing them. It was their stories that drove me to cross into St. Bernard parish last Sunday when I was in New Orleans. I wondered about the stench to which they often refer, I wondered, wondered, wondered. I feel as though I can empathize ever so slightly with applicants from Orleans Parish, but I am at a loss when it comes to those from St. Bernard. \r\n \r\nIt was not without reservation that I went to St. Bernard parish. I felt like- I was a voyeur in their neighborhood. Also, it is still rather dangerous there, but I went in a kind of daze. Like them, I cannot begin to describe the smell that penetrates the air there and I was in a car with the window rolled down, not in my home, searching for anything salvageable. There are sofas, kitchen appliances, other heavy household objects strewn in the streets. There are boats and cars on the roofs of buildings. Every single front door is punched open and twisted by the force of the water and unlike in most of Orleans, there is no visible water line. \r\n \r\nI haven\'t seen April and David since and I have no idea what I will say to them. I do know that just visiting their neighborhood did nothing to better prepare me to help them. I still have no idea. \r\n \r\nbest, \r\njessie\r\n\r\nAPRIL AND DAVID (II)- AOTD 10.27.05\r\n\r\nApril and David came in today to drop off their loan packet to the SBA. It was slow in the DRC so I had time to talk to them and they were kind enough stop by my desk and chat. It was good to see them. They found a place to live in Vacherie and it turns out, it\'s just around the corner from Chez J & J on Lac Des Allemandes! Told you it\'s a small town. \r\n \r\nWe were comparing notes on our new rural lives and something came up about getting started on some repairs- or something- and they both just burst into laughter. April proceeded to force David, her husband to tell me the following story: \r\n \r\n[side note: it\'s been explained to me before, but I can\'t remember right now why it is that east New Orleanians have Brooklyn accents, but they do. if any of you real New Orleanians have the story straight on that, let me know.] \r\n \r\nDavid and his son were outside enjoying their new \"rural lifestyle\" by taking advantage of the fact that, unlike their old house, they could now shoot the son\'s pellet gun right there in the back yard. Sweet! Somehow, a bullet ricocheted into the front room of the house, which they have transformed into his grandmother\'s bedroom. Grandma was enjoying her first quiet afternoon in a long, long time. \'It\'s not home, but it\'ll do for now,\' she was probably thinking as she stretched out with a book on her new air mattress. Suddenly, everyone heard a high-pitched whining sound and grandma was, as David put it, \"going down with the ship.\" Oops! Needless to say, David had to get home to do a little patching. \r\n \r\nI didn\'t mention to them that I had gone to St. Bernard since I saw them last. They didn\'t mention whether or not they had been back recently either...\r\n \r\nBest,\r\nJessie\r\n\r\nAPPENDIX \r\n\r\nThe following is an email exchange regarding the St. Bernard accent question.\r\n\r\nJessie,\r\nYeah you rite. The yat accents from the St. Bernard do sound similar to the sterotypical accent from Brooklyn. The name yat comes from the standing greeting \"Where y\'at.\" The Irish and Italian immigrants that came to the port city of New Orleans brought the same dialects as those that went to the port city of New York. You hear it come out in phrases like \"How\'s your mamma and dem,\" or \"berl some ersters,\" (boil some oysters). And like you know no one from New Orleans says the name \"N\'awlans ya\'ll,\" can we please stop this annoying trend. \r\nAll my love and see you tomorrow,\r\nRy\r\n\r\nThanks to Ryan, resident historian on New Orleans and all things urban, for his contribution to and enhancement of AOTD. Furthermore, thanks for the tip on how to not embarrass and out ourselves as tourists. Due to Ryan\'s return to the Crescent City I will be taking a few days off from both work and AOTD. Until next time, \r\njp\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHERBERT- AOTD 11.3.05\r\n\r\nUpon returning from a few restful days off with Ryan, I notice several glaring changes in the day-to-day at the DRC. The most disturbing is the return applicants. The wait periods for changes and payments vary but not surprisingly, the unwavering party line is, \'give it a few weeks.\' Now that I\'ve been here for almost six weeks, more and more people are coming in after having \'given it a few weeks\' and nothing has happened. Telling them this is one of the saddest, most demoralizing experiences I have ever had. I feel helpless to help their helplessness. \r\n \r\nWhen I asked Herbert for his FEMA application number, he pulled a grubby post-it note out of his pocket. As he unfolded it, I recognized my handwriting and my heart sunk. He had been here weeks before and we had filed the necessary paperwork to correct an error in his application; he had accidentally indicated that his damaged address in New Orleans was not his primary, but his secondary. \r\n \r\nThis is a very common mistake, so common that I think the wording needs to be changed- \"Do you live here all the time?\" or \"Do you have live in any other houses?\" People just don\'t know what primary and secondary mean, at least not in the stressful context of applying for FEMA. I can attest first hand- it\'s scary! \r\n \r\nI remember explaining the problem with his application to Herbert on his first visit to the DRC, that essentially FEMA thought that this house was his vacation home. \"No, indeed,\" he chuckled and shook his head, thinking of the tiny rented shotgun home in the 9th Ward he had told me about. But, because FEMA only assists people displaced from their primary residences, Herbert had received 0$ since Hurricane Katrina. \r\n \r\nToday, I held my breath as we waited for the computer to access his file. \'Please let the problem be resolved!\' I thought. Nothing. Nothing had changed. It seemed his file had been dormant since we had last visited it. How do you look over the laptop and tell someone who has lost everything, lived in a shelter for 8 weeks and been through who knows what else to \'give it a few more weeks\'? \r\n \r\nBest,\r\nJessie\r\n\r\nVERBATINE- AOTD 11.5.05\r\n\r\nVerbatine is a favorite. We have become true friends. She frequents the DRC, always smiling, despite the fact that she is always there, patiently and persistently attempting to get what she needs and deserves from FEMA. \r\n \r\nShe comes in, \"Hey girl! Jessie, how you feelin\'?!\" \"Good to see you, it\'s been a while!\" I reply. We sit down to check her application as usual, but when I look up from the paperwork, I see that today Verbatine has reached the end of her rope; she is quietly crying. As I hand her a tissue, she says it\'s just one of those days and apologizes, I tell her don’t. \r\n \r\nThe people with whom she has been staying in Vacherie have asked her to leave. She\'s heard nothing of the FEMA trailer we applied for on the 4th of October. She looks tired and says she just can\'t go on living like this, place to place. I think we have that in common, homebodies who are very unhappy when not settled. After the storm she bought a bottle of vermouth and bottle of vodka that she\'s saving for when she finally gets a place. Last night she almost opened them up, but she managed to hold out. \r\n \r\nCarol, from Vacherie recently came to the DRC to drop a flyer about her rental property. I show Verbatine the picture. She said, \"Damn, Jessie, that looks good right about now!\" Her smile is back.\r\n \r\nWe call, we mapquest, Verbatine hops in the car, headed for Gramercy to check it out. Before she leaves I tell her to call me and tell me how it works out. \"Yeah I\'ll call you\"- she leans in to whisper- \"to come help me crack them bottles!\" \r\n \r\nI want so badly for this to work out I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning or something. I\'m just at the DRC waiting with my fingers crossed, working on AOTD- and typing with your fingers crossed is not easy! I just hope that a few days from now I\'m sipping martinis with Verbatine in her new place. \r\n \r\nBest,\r\nJessie\r\n\r\nTHE UPDATE EDITION- 11.12.05\r\n\r\nIn honor of this, the 10th edition of AOTD, today is dedicated to updating you on past AOTDs and their progress- FEMA and otherwise. \r\n \r\nPAM- stopped in on her way back to Dallas. Is relocated there for at least the next six months, but intends to repair her house and move back. Look for E Lee\'s at Mardi Gras. \r\n \r\nANDREW- as of November 10, received $4358. Is scheduled for more payments to cover personal property losses. Came in (practically bouncing off the walls!) to thank us, promises to bring beignets next time.\r\n \r\nCALVIN- still no FEMA assistance. However, he brought me his 1971 Brewers Rookie Stars baseball card and signed it! \"To Miss Jessie. Much Success.\" He told me it\'s worth $33, but I\'m not selling. \r\n \r\nFREDDIE- received $2000 to assist him with expenses accrued evacuating and trying to plug himself back in in Baton Rouge.\r\n \r\nOGLETHORPE- I have not seen or heard from Oglethorpe since his first visit. Perhaps he is back in New Orleans?\r\n \r\nAPRIL AND DAVID- enjoying life on Lac Des Allemandes- it is a unique place. Will soon move into a travel trailer in front of their house in St. Bernard Parish in order to keep their high school age son in school and with friends. They will also begin work on their house. April got what she calls a “country” cut and dye job. She hates it, but I told her it looked great. I think she misses her hairdresser. Air mattress patches largely unsuccessful. \r\n \r\nHERBERT- Wait and see.\r\n \r\nVERBATINE- Found an even better, cheaper apt. in New Orleans on Carondelet. Might see her tonight in the city. \r\n \r\n*Also, Ryan finally received his first check from FEMA. Thanks for being so patient sir. \r\n \r\nIn other news, Rock n\' Bowl in New Orleans reopened last night. The neon bowling pin was the only light illuminated for blocks and gave off a victorious glow as the crowd gathered in the stenched air 6 feet of water inevitably leaves. Everyone was so happy to see each other. Eddie Bo and a host of local guest stars played, including Ernie K-do\'s widow, Annette, who closed out the night with an awesome cover of \"Mother-in-law.\" \r\n \r\nThey cut the sugar cane field next to the center this morning. This afternoon they will burn the field which smells like pumpkin pie. I think about all of you often and wonder how you are. \r\n \r\nBest,\r\njp\r\n\r\nAFTERWARD- 3.27.06\r\n\r\nI have lost touch with most of these people. Since the end of AOTD Johanna and I had Thanksgiving dinner with Andrew and Verbatine. By that time, Andrew had gotten his FEMA trailer of which he gave Ryan and me the grand tour- tiny. I still talk to Verbatine, she has relocated with her job to Baltimore, I hope she returns sometime soon.