Red Crossed! \r\n\r\nThe following message was conveyed to and ignored by the administrative head of the Red Cross in Massachusetts in late December 2005. With all of the FEMA and government bashing, I had thought it would be good to document yet another source of waste and ineptitude. This is especially important given the over-emphasis on other organizations.\r\n\r\nDear Mr. and Ms. Red Cross Bureaucrat,\r\n\r\nBefore leaving our evacuation motel in Lufkin, Texas, we first attempted to access Red Cross assistance for gas or lodging in Lufkin, Texas. Rather than discounting rooms, the hotels in the area were at that time often over-charging customers. Fortunately, our hotel did not overcharge, but the regular rate for five days was not inexpensive, and our credit cards were just about maxed out. Red Cross officials in Lufkin told us that they were only set up to receive material and financial donations and could not help us with our hotel or gas costs as we set out for family in Massachusetts. They also could not advise us regarding the hotel voucher program.\r\n\r\nOne woman who had stopped at the Red Cross office to make a financial contribution was moved to attempt to give us a $250 personal check because of the absurdity of the situation; we of course told her no because we were sure to access funds via Red Cross at some point. We later learned that our friends who had evacuated to Austin had received hotel vouchers and financial assistance from Red Cross in that city, so apparently we were just dealing with the wrong branch of your agency—so we thought. My only regret is that she walked back in and handed the money over to your bureaucracy rather than giving it directly to some Louisiana resident much worse off than our family.\r\n\r\nWe ended up spending well over a 1000 dollars on hotel rooms and gas, and more for food, before reaching our family in Massachusetts. I visited Otis Air Base on the day your operations had been scheduled to open, according to press accounts. My sister called from New Hampshire right after she had heard the announcement on Boston television news. Five volunteers and representatives of the Red Cross greeted me with the news that they had postponed their work until after the weekend because the evacuees were all too exhausted. I asked if they might process just one, and was told that I would have to return. I pointed out that I wasn’t a bit tired, and I wouldn’t mind being the first “guest” to be processed. I left the group as they resumed their business of trading horror stories they had picked up from the “guests” of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. \r\n\r\nIt had taken me almost an hour to clear security and wait for an officer to arrive and escort me onto the site. We now only have one car, and enrolling our daughter in a new school did not go smoothly the first couple of weeks (I wonder what could have been bothering her? Perhaps the lack of any support in her new school setting didn’t help), so we had to be ready to pick her up early. Plus, having a second child in nursery school across town for half a day meant that we could not find the time to dedicate half a day or more to returning to Otis. While we were fortunate to still have jobs in Louisiana, we both started teaching over-enrolled online courses in early October. This meant days spent in public libraries for fast access to the Internet.\r\n\r\nEventually, following many attempts to register with FEMA, we were told that our information would be forwarded to the Red Cross. After a few weeks, we were told, we would hear from the Red Cross. While we thought this meant that we would not have to return to Otis, the promised Red Cross contact never happened. Checking on the status of our case with the national office also led nowhere.\r\n\r\nWe now face another expensive trip to return to New Orleans, and while we could stay with friends on one night if we take a circuitous route home, it will add another day and more expenses to our trip. My sister’s friends in New Hampshire donated clothes and toys to replace some of the possessions lost by our family. We now face charges of several hundred dollars for trailer rental and the installation of a trailer hitch and/or shipping costs to get these back home. \r\n\r\nBoth sets of our retired parents had helped us out with some financial contributions early on, but I had to travel to New Orleans, rent a van, and rent a storage facility and attempt to salvage our belongings before our former landlord gutted our apartment. Traffic conditions were so bad in the city that what might have taken a few days to move from our wrecked former home to our $100 per month storage facility took much longer, so I returned for a second trip. Fortunately, I was able to salvage our most valuable possessions before everything else was destroyed. Rent for our new 3 bedroom home in New Orleans is now going to be $2000 per month (versus $1000 per month beforehand), and with one month’s rent as security deposit, most all of the family donations are now gone. The FEMA housing assistance, if it continues, will cover most, but not all of the rent increase. Fortunately, my wife discovered by chance a one-time assistance program through the State of Massachusetts, and this has helped alleviate some of the costs of groceries and medicine. (Imagine trying to afford the cost of living in the Bay State on university salaries that are among the lowest in the nation.)\r\n\r\nWhile FEMA has regularly adjusted its outmoded deadlines in order to accommodate the changed nature of the worst natural and manmade disaster in US history, I hope the Red Cross might also rethink its policy of no longer handling claims after December 1st—especially when the case was opened in late September following two earlier attempts to do so in person. I don’t mean to sound negative; I only thought a fuller account of our experience with the Red Cross might explain that we are not seeking services after the deadline. We are following through on our September application. We are hoping to receive financial assistance in the form of hotel vouchers. Thank you for whatever assistance you can provide.\r\n\r\nWell, the end of the story is here. We now join the many Americans who will sooner contribute to the Red Crescent before giving any money to the Red Cross. This is the same organization that in the 1990s refused to provide any more shelter assistance in most of Southeastern Louisiana because they consider it too dangerous. Rather than invest their considerable funds and fundraising ability towards developing safe evacuation shelters in this region or plans to move hundreds of thousands of evacuees North of the line they drew in the swamp, the Red Cross has done nothing in this regard. \r\n\r\nPost-Katrina, volunteers serving as parts of church groups and radical political movements have provided much more aid to New Orleans residents. Even during the first few weeks of your presence in New Orleans, I remember the long lines and waits for cleaning supplies—not worth it. As I left one of your sites, someone offered food. The thought of the number of inedible hamburgers your organization threw away donated money on makes me feel almost as ill in the stomach as when I bit into that rancid patty. This was at a time when no restaurants existed for miles around. I really wasn’t in the frame of mind to be picky. As late as February I saw Red Cross food trucks or slop wagons driving through neighborhood streets in areas that had not been flooded offering free food to whoever emerged. I-yi-yi.