Americans open homes, hearts to storm victims
WASHINGTON -- The pitch sounds like a real estate ad: 3,300-square-foot home, nestled in South Dakota countryside next to a lake, two large basement bedrooms with private baths, an excellent school district. But stay-at-home dad John Solheim isn't selling property; he's offering long-term refuge for Hurricane Katrina victims -- and so far, like thousands of other Americans wanting to open their homes, he's having trouble finding a way to get the word out.
''I was feeling guilty, watching these thirsty, hungry people and I'm out there watering my evergreen trees," Solheim said. ''I see people stacked into these buildings like cordwood. My cats are living better than they are." After describing his property in an interview yesterday, Solheim got down to business: ''I could take four to six people; grade-school-age kids would be great."
As relief agencies descend on the Gulf Coast, Americans -- as they have in past disasters -- are reacting to the heart-wrenching footage of refugees by opening their wallets. This time, though, they also are offering their homes.
The offers -- made on websites, in pleas to news outlets, and calls to their elected officials -- underscore the challenge in the government's post-hurricane planning: Where will hundreds of thousands of residents displaced for four, five, or more months live?
On Wednesday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency mandated by the president to handle long-term housing needs, scrambled to issue a plan that includes locating available HUD-owned houses and public housing within a 500-mile radius of the disaster area and issuing vouchers to pay the rent of new homes for tenants of destroyed public housing units.
Most charities are focused solely on short-term disaster relief, though Catholic Charities plans to examine its network of residential care facilities, nursing homes, shelters, and other facilities to see what can be made available for months-long stays. ''We're just at the beginning phase," said spokeswoman Shelley Borysiewicz.
So, in an age of 24-hour cable news and Internet access to like-minded citizens, impatient Americans across the country are taking matters into their own hands. ''When you look at the big picture, when are these kids going to go back to school?" said Joan Golub, a physician eager to offer space in her Newton home, where ''it's just me and the dogs," in one of the state's prime school districts.
Some of those offering shelter say they've been discouraged from doing so by government officials who fear the consequences of putting strangers in private homes. But that hasn't tempered grass-roots enthusiasm.
''I just don't believe that some guy with a couple kids who just lost his casino job is going to rob me," said Tim Green of Joplin, Mo., who says he wants to convert his basement recreation room into a bedroom. ''These people are going to need more than just money. They're being herded around the Astrodome like cattle, with no communication to the outside world. They need to know that people want to help."
The website www.homesforkatrina.org, founded by Gabe Roffman, a Web application designer based in Charlottesville, Va., has organized a ''match-making" system linked to the security firm Intelius that will donate criminal background checks ''to eliminate any violent or sexual offenders from the system." Those who want to register to offer housing must agree to be screened by ''reputable local charitable and religious organizations." The website is soliciting people who can act as liaisons with those groups. Another site, katrinahousing.org, provides a registry for those offering housing, and those in need. The political activist group MoveOn.org launched a similar effort yesterday.
Meanwhile, most charities are too overwhelmed with delivering food, water, clothing, and temporary shelters to worry about long-term housing. ''It's still this mind-numbing catastrophe," said Jeff C. Perry, president of the Christian relief organization Service International.
Perry's church was flooded in the 1993 Midwest flood that killed 50, left behind $15 billion in damage, and destroyed about 10,000 homes. In that case, he said, ''that was a suburban middle-class environment. [Refugees] had families that could absorb them." By contrast, Katrina hit hardest residents without similar options. ''I'm concerned about the poor we're seeing on rooftops -- are they going to fall through the cracks?" he said.
Precise estimates of how many people will need longer-term housing are hard to come by. But on Wednesday, President Bush said more than 78,000 people are in government shelters. Another 50,000 are in Red Cross shelters, tens of thousands are in other shelters, and many others are staying with friends or relatives.
Meanwhile, the Internet continues to fill with people offering to open their doors. The website www.craigslist.com is a popular destination for hurricane helpers -- with a room available in southern Utah, a townhome in Minneapolis, a house in Dallas.
One listing offers an opportunity to ''start over" in Colorado: ''Family will help you get here. One hour north of Denver. Free Room and Board for motivated student or single mom w/1 school age child while you get on your feet. Nice home & community. We have dogs & cats. May you be surrounded by love and light during this difficult time."
From Wisconsin, another writes: ''We would be happy to take in a family in need because of the hurricane. We are a Christian family of 6 (kids age 9, 7, 5 and 2.) Large home with a private space for a family. No rent, no money for food needed. We can accommodate small children and pets. We could arrange for transportation. We are praying for you." 