This Is the Maddest I Have Been. Has America Learned Anything About Human Decency?
Last night around midnight I got a call from a friend Kristy in Mississippi. I have gotten used to Kristy sounding really sad on the phone, but I could immediately tell that something was even more wrong than usual. Kristy and I got connected through First Missionary Baptist Church (FMBC). Kristy was one of the first people to come to the church's Disaster Center. The roof in Kristy's apartment was partially torn off during the hurricane and so her house was flooded. There was mold and moisture in the apartment and so almost all of her furniture and clothing were destroyed. Her apartment was unhabitable so she had to move in with her mother. Without a car and pretty far from her children's school, Kristy was really anxious to move back into her own place and try to put her life back together.
The day that Kristy came into the FMBC Disaster Center, Sis Jenkins called me so that I could try to help with her list of needs. I listened to what she had been through, we prayed and we exchanged information. From Sept. 10th until I got to Gulfport on Sept. 29th, Kristy and I stayed in touch. Over the two weeks I was there we got to hang out a little bit, I met her three children and we talked about her possibly moving to Boston. While it was obvoious that the storm had taken a toll on her spirit, it was also clear that Kristy was a woman who wanted to make a better life for her kids. She encourages them to do well in school and they are well behaved kids.
A day before I left Kristy's apartment complex called to tell her that she could move into a new apartment that had not been damaged. She jumped at the change and moved in on the 11th. Her first day in she got someone to bring a truck so that she could move things from her old apartment to her new apartment. After some items were stolen from the truck she decided to wait and get more help before she moved anything else. She told me that she was going to find some people to help her move this week.
On Monday, October 17th, less than a week after she moved to her new apartment, Kristy noticed some construction work going on at her old apartment building. When she got closer she saw some men throwing her things out of the second story window. They had thrown out her dining room table, her dishes, her framed pictures. They had walked past the door on her front door that said " I will be returning for the items I can salvage" and they started demolishing apartment. With no regard for all that she had already gone through, they got rid of some of her most prized possessions - the porcelin doll that she bought her youngest daughter for Christmas, her children's framed HeadStart graduation certificates, cute photos from the days when the kids all got along before the natural process hits when a 12 year old can't get along with an 8 year old.
She tried to pick things off the ground, but when it was obvious that she couldn't carry much and that they were not going to stop, she went to the management office. The property manager claimed that she had told her they were coming. Nothing in writing, just a claim that she told her. Finally Kristy had to run to the local church and ask people to help her move her things. By the time that she got back, they were throwing sheet rock on top of her cushed possessions. At that point the only thing she could salvage was 2 TVs, her stereo, and her computer. How did those survive being thrown out the window? They weren't - the demolition guys set them aside near their truck planning to take them home for themselves.
This morning she went to the rubble again and there was fiberglass on top of the sheet rock, making it even more dangerous to sort through the debris. Then they did more bulldozing making it harder to get to the stuff.
I am not even going to hide how I feel about this - I am pissed off. There is to reason that this family should have had to go to another traumatic experience. To think that you lost everything and then to be able to salvage something and have it destroyed this way. This should not happen to anyone. Kristy's apartment building is owned and/or managed by the Lynd Corporation, a Texas-based company that boasts 750 million in property acquisitions. Their website says that they are helping the victims of Katrina by relocating evacuees in Texas. What about the victims in Mississippi. Didn't this family at least deserve some notice before a truck on contracters came from Texas and demolished the few things they had left?
So I am going to get off of my soapbox, but I am so angry that I refuse to rest until Kristy gets some justice. At first she was scared to say anything for fear of being evicted but then she told me that she doesn't even care anymore. She said that she didn't know if she could even live there anymore. Despite the fact that she did nothing wrong, there is not a one of us who would not be embaressed to have to pick your prized possessions out of the rubble while the whole neighborhood watched.
Keep watching for more information on what you can do to help bring justice to this family......
The day that Kristy came into the FMBC Disaster Center, Sis Jenkins called me so that I could try to help with her list of needs. I listened to what she had been through, we prayed and we exchanged information. From Sept. 10th until I got to Gulfport on Sept. 29th, Kristy and I stayed in touch. Over the two weeks I was there we got to hang out a little bit, I met her three children and we talked about her possibly moving to Boston. While it was obvoious that the storm had taken a toll on her spirit, it was also clear that Kristy was a woman who wanted to make a better life for her kids. She encourages them to do well in school and they are well behaved kids.
A day before I left Kristy's apartment complex called to tell her that she could move into a new apartment that had not been damaged. She jumped at the change and moved in on the 11th. Her first day in she got someone to bring a truck so that she could move things from her old apartment to her new apartment. After some items were stolen from the truck she decided to wait and get more help before she moved anything else. She told me that she was going to find some people to help her move this week.
On Monday, October 17th, less than a week after she moved to her new apartment, Kristy noticed some construction work going on at her old apartment building. When she got closer she saw some men throwing her things out of the second story window. They had thrown out her dining room table, her dishes, her framed pictures. They had walked past the door on her front door that said " I will be returning for the items I can salvage" and they started demolishing apartment. With no regard for all that she had already gone through, they got rid of some of her most prized possessions - the porcelin doll that she bought her youngest daughter for Christmas, her children's framed HeadStart graduation certificates, cute photos from the days when the kids all got along before the natural process hits when a 12 year old can't get along with an 8 year old.
She tried to pick things off the ground, but when it was obvious that she couldn't carry much and that they were not going to stop, she went to the management office. The property manager claimed that she had told her they were coming. Nothing in writing, just a claim that she told her. Finally Kristy had to run to the local church and ask people to help her move her things. By the time that she got back, they were throwing sheet rock on top of her cushed possessions. At that point the only thing she could salvage was 2 TVs, her stereo, and her computer. How did those survive being thrown out the window? They weren't - the demolition guys set them aside near their truck planning to take them home for themselves.
This morning she went to the rubble again and there was fiberglass on top of the sheet rock, making it even more dangerous to sort through the debris. Then they did more bulldozing making it harder to get to the stuff.
I am not even going to hide how I feel about this - I am pissed off. There is to reason that this family should have had to go to another traumatic experience. To think that you lost everything and then to be able to salvage something and have it destroyed this way. This should not happen to anyone. Kristy's apartment building is owned and/or managed by the Lynd Corporation, a Texas-based company that boasts 750 million in property acquisitions. Their website says that they are helping the victims of Katrina by relocating evacuees in Texas. What about the victims in Mississippi. Didn't this family at least deserve some notice before a truck on contracters came from Texas and demolished the few things they had left?
So I am going to get off of my soapbox, but I am so angry that I refuse to rest until Kristy gets some justice. At first she was scared to say anything for fear of being evicted but then she told me that she doesn't even care anymore. She said that she didn't know if she could even live there anymore. Despite the fact that she did nothing wrong, there is not a one of us who would not be embaressed to have to pick your prized possessions out of the rubble while the whole neighborhood watched.
Keep watching for more information on what you can do to help bring justice to this family......
posted by Mariama @ 3:04 PM
2 Comments:
At Wed Oct 19, 06:08:00 PM PDT,
POPS said…
that really does suck a$$. now you got me all pissed more than I already was for some other shT going on.
At Sat Oct 22, 02:41:00 PM PDT,
ChezNiki said…
Thank you for your work in the Gulf and thank you for writing this blog. My sister and I have done all we could from up here in Boston, but neither one of us have had the opportunity to go to the Gulf. God Bless You.
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