"Have a Heart" Katrina Evacuee Press Conference TUESDAY

Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area
Phone/fax 415-626-4114 email: sf [at] crossroadswomen.net
PO Box 14512, San Francisco, CA 94114

February 13, 2006


What: “Have a Heart” Katrina Evacuee Press Conference

When: Tuesday, February 14, 2006, 4pm

Where: 1111 Broadway outside FEMA Regional Office (nr 12th St BART),
Oakland, CA

Contact:
CC Campbell-Rock, Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area 504-432-4243
Nell Myhand, Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike
510-390-8626/415-626-4114

Evicting People on Valentine’s Day – where’s FEMA’s heart?


> As a GOP report accuses Bush of ignoring reports that the levees had
> failed and of not moving quickly to evacuate people and faults the
> administration for the number of lives lost, the Hurricane Evacuees
> Council/Bay Area (HECBA) is holding a press conference outside FEMA to
> demand that FEMA halt evictions of hurricane evacuees and that there
> be an immediate solution to the housing crisis of evacuees living in
> hotels and motels in the Bay Area and elsewhere who face evictions
> starting on February 13, the day before Valentines Day as well as to
> respond to the GOP report. Approximately 12,000 hurricane evacuees
> nationwide face eviction. Evacuees will report on the racist criminal
> negligence on the part of government officials post Katrina and the
> brutally dismissive response by FEMA to their demands (see below).
> Evacuees are also organizing a protest in Philadelphia.


> CC Campbell-Rock a spokeswoman for HECBA says ”The Bush administration
> and other policy makers should be charged with criminal negligence.
> The buck stops at the White House. Meanwhile, FEMA is playing a
> heartless game of cat and mouse with us. Evacuees are facing the
> frightening prospect of homelessness, as FEMA ignores their calls for
> help. It is unclear to evacuees how FEMA decides who will get hotel
> extensions and who will not. Evictions must be stopped; additionally,
> they are not in line with how the Stafford Act has been interpreted in
> the past.”


> Nell My-Hand of Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike adds
> “evacuees have already been severely traumatized. It’s cruel to make
> them wait through the stress of not knowing whether they will be on
> the street. Others who have found housing have been promised
> reimbursement from FEMA but have not received it. Evacuees can’t even
> get an appointment in the FEMA regional headquarters which is based in
> Oakland, they are told it is not open to the public. Post Katrina we
> were outraged as we watched poor Black people being left to drown in
> filthy toxic water, and now we are outraged at the inhumane treatment
> evacuees have received at the hands of FEMA and other agencies who are
> supposed to help.” My-Hand also says that the negligence for disaster
> victims by the Bush administration is global, she says “While money is
> pouring into war and occupation in Iraq to the tune of $100,000 per
> minute, earthquake survivors in Pakistan are freezing to death with
> little or no food and no heat, mudslide victims in Guatemala have
> received very little US assistance and Katrina survivors are being
> evicted and more.”


> Members of HECBA will be calling on FEMA on Valentine’s Day to
> immediately address their demands, to stop the ongoing victimization
> of hurricane evacuees and ensure that they get the justice they are
> entitled to.


> The Hurricane Evacuee Council/Bay Area is composed of people from the
> Gulf Coast region affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which
> displaced hundreds of thousands of people now scattered across the
> country. According to the Red Cross, California received over 14,000
> evacuees. San Francisco received 600 and Alameda County 1700. The
> Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area (HECBA), a multi-racial
> broad-based network of women and men hurricane evacuees, from
> Louisiana and Mississippi led by evacuees, and facilitated by the
> Global Women’s Strike/SF.
> *********************************************

Demands of the Hurricane Evacuees Council/ Bay Area
Sign on to Support!

November 2005

WE DEMAND REAL HOUSING
>
> - stop all evictions of people from hotels and other housing;
> stop all threats of eviction by the Red Cross, FEMA and other
> government bodies;

> - more resources for housing which must be provided
> immediately; extend the time that FEMA is paying for housing;
> displaced evacuees must have access to Section 8 housing; no hierarchy
> based on how housing is provided; resources should not be distributed
> based on income (former or present); permanent housing must be
> prioritized by FEMA, not hotels/motels; hotels, motels and trailers
> should be provided on a temporary basis as needed, to be replaced by
> permanent housing;

> - stop moving people from room to room at the hotels; housing
> to include basic essentials including kitchen facilities and
> refrigerators; people should have immediate access to decent clothing,
> furniture and other necessities for the home;


> - debt relief; a hold on mortgage payments on damaged or
> destroyed homes; compensation for losses incurred

> - home insurers must be held accountable and an immediate
> investigation be made into their denial of coverage to Katrina/Rita
> victims

> - flood insurance must go to homeowners to repair and rebuild
> not to mortgage companies to pay off mortgages on damaged or destroyed
> homes

WE DEMAND THE INFORMATION WE NEED

> - wide circulation by all city agencies, FEMA and
> non-governmental organizations of what resources and services evacuees
> are entitled to; all evacuees and those providing services to evacuees
> must have copies; resource lists should include city agencies, what
> they are responsible for providing, a person’s name to call and
> emergency contact number;

> - wide distribution of a list of where to get free or
> discounted meals;

> - community-based networks who are providing help should have
> access to information of where evacuees are;


WE DEMAND HELP WITH TRANSPORTATION

> - free of cost Muni bus, AC and Golden Gate transit system
> passes, BART tickets, and Amtrak tickets for evacuees and their
> children; Para-transit should be made available to anyone who needs
> it;

> - access to California drivers licenses;

WE DEMAND THE MONEY AND RESOURCES WE ARE ENTITLED TO
>
> - in the richest country in the world, all evacuees must get
> at least the $4350 they were promised and entitled to (an initial
> $2000 per family for evacuees and then an additional $2350 for
> housing costs from FEMA); no discrimination based on former or present
> income; many people did not get this money, others got different
> amounts;

> - the money from the debit cards that was taken out must be
> given back (the Red Cross gave people $660 in Houston TX and many
> people report having between $300-360 taken away from them upon
> arrival in San Francisco);

> - immediate access to Cal-works/welfare, food stamps, medical
> care and housing for all survivors;

> - legal and other services and aid must be made available to
> evacuees;

WE DEMAND WORK FOR THOSE WHO WANT IT

> - everyone who can and wants to should have the opportunity
> to have a job/waged work at a decent wage; all evacuees must have
> immediate access to an income including for their unwaged caring and
> survival work; companies who owed people for their work before the
> hurricane should pay this money now; the federal government should
> fine employers who show discrimination against hiring evacuees;


WE DEMAND QUALITY FAMILY CARE

> - access to free quality childcare, elder care; ; quality
> education for our children, address any needs they have related to the
> trauma of this experience; care and support for people with
> disabilities; family members who are caring for children, the elderly
> and those with disabilities should be paid and receive other resources
> for that work;

WE DEMAND NO DISCRIMINATION
>
> - no discrimination based on sex, race, age, economic,
> background, immigration and other legal or social status, sexual
> orientation, disability, etc;

WE DEMAND FULL ACCOUNTABILITY

> - accountability and transparency for all monies from
> government and non-governmental organizations that is supposed to help
> or be handed to evacuees; how much did the Red Cross, United Way,
> FEMA, the City of San Francisco and other Bay Area cities receive for
> evacuees’ relief; how much money has come in and how is it being
> spent; how much of it is going to salaries and other administrative
> costs and how much gets to evacuees?


> For more info or to send back the form, contact: Hurricane Evacuees
> Council/Bay Area Box 14512 San Francisco CA 94114 or call/fax to
> 415-626-4114 sf [at] crossroadswomen.net

> HECBA is a network of evacuees, led by evacuees and facilitated by the
> Women’s Caucus of the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and the Global
> Women’s Strike/SF
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

> I/We support the demands of the Hurricane Evacuees Council/Bay Area

Name______________________________________________________________
>
> Organization_________________________________________________________
>
> Address_____________________________________________________________
>
> email____________________________________phone___________________

Donation _____________________________________ Thank you!