(BILOXI, MS) June 3 -- What are people who receive FEMA assistance doing to help themselves? That's the question NBC 15's Andrea Ramey asked those who have been staying for free in hotel rooms after they moved out of FEMA supplied travel trailers. What she found out is there are some who are doing very little.
The scorching heat puts many at the Quality Inn poolside, but for Gwenester Malone, she chooses to beat the heat by setting her thermostat to sixty degrees. Malone's room for the past three months, along with three meals daily, have all been paid for by taxpayers.
"Do you work?" asked NBC 15's Andrea Ramey.
"No. I'm not working right now," said Malone.
Malone says she can't drive and it's too hot outside to find work within walking distance. "Since the storm, I haven't had any energy or pep to go get a job, but when push comes to shove, I will," said Malone.
Just a few blocks away, Kelley Christian also stays at a hotel for free. She says she's not taking advantage of her situation, but admits it's easy to do. "It's too easy. You know, once you're there, you don't have to pay rent," said Christian. "I kept putting it off and putting it off and now, I'm tired of putting it off."
She hasn't had any "energy or pep" since Hurricane Katrina? That was almost 3 years ago.
When there's no incentive for people to take care of themselves, the person suffers in the soul and the rest of us suffer for them in the wallet.
We have had the dubious pleasure of housing and feeding Katrina evacuees in our area. We got gang problems, fights in school, dropping test scores and a rising local suburban crime rate. Nice stuff. It isn't all, but there are some who think they are entitled to an extended vacation at someone else's expense. And nobody will tell them off because they we are "racist".
ReplyDeleteThere is an item on Snopes regarding Katrina evacuees in Austin TX refusing to ride shuttle buses provided by the city to job fairs. I wrote the original e-mail and sent it to about 6 people. One of those receiving it forwarded it to a local newspaper reporter and it got from there to Snopes who called it an undetermined rumor. The fact is that in Feb 2006 I was driving for a local limo/bus company; we transported one person to this job fair. We walked in the rain and knocked on doors to try to get people to the fair, but were totally unsuccessful. In short, this has been going on for 3 years now - it's time the charity ended.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the attention.
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/politics/jobfair.asp
Why should a lazy person do anything when they receive "charity" from the government. The facts are that these type of people will accept charity from anyone willing to give it to them. If they weren't living off the taxpayers they'd be living off their friends and relatives. No difference.
ReplyDeleteCute, but fake. Mine was real.
ReplyDelete