 Back |
 The Show-Me state has shown Hurricane Katrina victims just how hospitable Missouri can be to those whose lives have been ripped apart by a disaster.
Indeed, more than a month after Katrina blew through the Big Easy sending its residents in all directions, Missouri remains home – at least temporarily – for a surprising number of Louisianans.
So much so, in fact, that Missouri has obtained a $400,000 federal grant to provide workforce counseling services to those who came to the state because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
While the airlift of a thousand New Orleans residents to St. Louis didn't take place – the conversion of an airport hangar to a group living center was called a good practice – a substantial number of folks from Louisiana made their way to Missouri to stay with friends or family.
According to figures from the State Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, St. Louis was the number-one destination in the state for the displaced Louisianans.
It's believed there are about 5,400 evacuees in Metro St. Louis; 4,000 in Metro Kansas City; 3,200 in the Springfield area; 900 in the Cape Girardeau area; and about 2,000 in other areas of the state, said the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
That's more than 15,000 displaced folks who have settled in Missouri. That's no small number. Even an influx of 900 people in an area such as Cape Girardeau (population about 36,000) is significant in terms of the need for jobs and services.
Missouri is one of 12 states sharing a total of $15 million in federal grants from the U.S. Labor Department aimed at helping the hurricane evacuees. The money will finance intense "career and life counseling" services for the hurricane victims. The grant received by Missouri will pay for supplies, equipment, travel, salaries and fringe benefits for four counselors. Those folks face a tall order. Not only will they take care of the evacuees in their respective areas – a counselor will be based in St. Louis, K.C., Cape and Springfield – the four also will have to find time to work with those 2,000 evacuees in the rural areas.
The St. Louis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross played a key role in helping the evacuees – as well as providing volunteer boots on the ground in the New Orleans area.
Here are some interesting numbers regarding the Red Cross and its efforts to help the hurricane victims:
- Through Oct. 12, Red Cross caseworkers had met with 5,687 people (representing 2,425 families) displaced by the hurricanes. Direct financial aid disbursed through the St. Louis Chapter has reached $1.65 million.
- More than 4,000 new volunteers have been processed and given training by the Red Cross in the wake of the two hurricanes. The St. Louis Area Chapter has sent 31 trained disaster volunteers and staff to the Gulf Coast region.
- Beginning Aug. 30, the local chapter staffed a telephone bank for 18 days, using almost 200 volunteers an serving more than 8,200 people. Most of those were from callers wanting to offer help, 13 percent of all the calls were from evacuees seeing help.
- More than 2,600 people submitted volunteer applications on line and more than 2,150 people made on-line donations totaling $267,000.
If you would like to make a donation or offer your time to the Red Cross to help those who still are in Metro St. Louis, call (314) 516-2800 or log on to www.redcrossstl.org.
Buck Collier is the managing editor of the South Suburban Journals.
This story may be available for an Adobe Acrobat PDF download. Click on the link below to visit the site download center. If a PDF is available, the file will automatically open in your browser.
|
|
|