September 04, 2005
(Updated) Breaking: Katrina Refugees Headed To Buckman Neighborhood
Defunct Washington-Monroe High School To Serve As Shelter
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
At a hastily-called meeting at Buckman School late this afternoon, officials from the City of Portland and local relief agencies announced that 800-1000 refugees from Hurricane Katrina soon will be sheltered at the old Washington-Monroe High School in Southeast Portland. Those refugees could arrive as soon as tonight or as late as Friday.
Earlier this afternoon, the Associated Press reported that Governor Ted Kulongoski was in discussions with Federal officials to activate Oregon as one of many states across the country which are taking in refugees.
"Government hasn't worked too well for them in the last week," said Mayor Tom Potter, explaining that Portland's effort would help change that.
City officials, including the Portland Police Bureau, Portland Office of Emergency Management, and Portland Parks & Recreation, are coordinating with the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and Portland Public Schools to provide both the facilities and services the refugees will require upon their arrival.
The local chapter of the Red Cross has assumed operational responsibilities at the shelter site, where volunteers began preparations yesterday morning.
During this afternoon's meeting, officials provided as much information as was currently available about what to expect, and answered questions from those assembled from Buckman and surrounding neighborhoods. We'll have more from that meeting this evening, as we go through our notes.
September 4th, 2005 Update
A couple of things from elsewhere before we comb through our notes for the bullet points. On the KOIN evening news, the only excerpt they aired from the Buckman meeting was a man complaining that the Mayor sited the refugees in Buckman rather than the Mayor's own neighborhood. That doesn't reflect the reality of the meeting, during which those in attendance tended to express twin concerns for not just the impact upon Buckman or the safety of its residents, but also the impact upon the refugees themselves and their safety as well.
(There was also a smattering of applause wrapped with a general silence when officials pointed out that the bulk of the refugees likely would be African-Americans.)
Meanwhile, KOIN also reported (as has been mentioned in the first comment here as well) that Multnomah County Sherrif Giusto and County Chair Diane Linn are proferring the dormant Wapato jail facility as a shelter site as well. There didn't appear to yet be an response form the Red Cross, although an official from that agency is supposed to be on KOIN's 6:30 PM newscast.
September 4th, 2005 Update
Of course, then there's this Oregonian story, proving that the "breaking" part of this really is more about tonight's neighborhood meeting. Which proves (since it was in today's newspaper) that when one is neglecting a site like this, and so burned out that one is not even reading the news very carefully, one might not quite know what one is doing when one tries to come back for something.
Meanwhile, while KATU says the Red Cross is turning down the Wapato offer, a Red Cross representative on KOIN said only that there are people out right now looking at various facilities and they should have some sort of agreement on a second faciltiy sometime tonight.
Comments (17)
Jason on 04 Sep 2005
Finally a purpose for the old Washington HS. Bernie Guisto was wedging this afternoon, offering FEMA the Wapato jail. I like Washington HS better.
Calvin Trillian, watching the evacuation of Saigon from his TV in NYC, saying, "For God sake, get the chefs!"
I hope we can invite these folks into our hearts and homes and find them a place in our community! We need them!
Angry Lefty on 04 Sep 2005
And maybe, when they have moved on, we can use the school for our own homeless citizens. Oh, wait, I am sorry -- the U.S. only cares for its poor, disenfranchised, neglected, sick, elderly, and marginalized after a natural disaster has destroyed the entire region they live in.
Jack Bog on 05 Sep 2005
If you call that "care."
Shannon on 05 Sep 2005
Where can I go to offer to sponsor a family in my Vancouver Home?
Cat on 05 Sep 2005
You can sign up to house a family at Hurrican Housing.org. Looking at all the offers, I'm betting all the evacuees could be hosted quickly.
Patricia on 05 Sep 2005
We want to sponsor a teenage boy in our home in Clackamas, Oregon. I have two H.S. boys. We are a loving Chrisian bi-racial family. We would be honored to have another boy to be apart of our family. Adoption is also a possibilty, any age/sex. Where do we go to find out about helping out?
Anne Dufay on 05 Sep 2005
The Red Cross response to folks who asked about putting people up in their houses, (at the recent Buckman meeting) was, not a good idea.
They are discouraging this because they cannot guarantee either the guest's safety, or the host family's safety. They have no capacity to do that kind of background checking, it is not something they do even under normal circumstances. This is not directed against anyone here, but the sad fact is that not everyone asking to take in a nice young boy is really the person you want to hand a nice young boy, shocked, lost, grieving, over to...
And besides, right now these folks need more than just a clean place to sleep and shower -- they need help finding missing family members. They need health care and counseling. They need triage, and that's much more effective if they are where the caregiving support system is. That's why having them in this temporary group care system is not really such a bad thing (as long as it doesn't go on too long) -- they will be able to access the immediate crises services they need right where they are.
Later they'll need jobs, homes, futures. Plenty of opportunities to help, I'd say.
Jason on 06 Sep 2005
Cat, thanks for that MoveOn.org URL. That's amazing! As of this (Tuesday) morning 529 people had signed up to give a Katrina family a warm home to gather in.
Quite inspiring. I still hope some are chefs (or students or jazz musicians or truck drivers or moms or even artists) and decide we're nice enough people and choose to stay.
Jason on 07 Sep 2005
Anne, I heard this about the Red Cross too and it's ridiculous! These are free adults!
They will disseminate quickly into the community, seeking their own best interests as water seeks lower ground. Containment and secrets is always the first thought of authoritarians.
Diane Koosed on 08 Sep 2005
There was talk on KPOJ today -- I didn't hear it myself, but heard ABOUT it -- of the possibility of neighbors or friends forming a group that would commit themselves to paying for one apartment for evacuees for six months? one year? Not sure. also, I don't know where to go to find out more about this. Can anyone send me in the right direction? I think it's a great idea, and it's great for community-building.
Diane
Shane Johnson on 08 Sep 2005
So two community meetings later and the tensions still growing.
Come on folks, think about what you have and what these people have lost.
Who cares about their race? We need to help these people and it is going to take the community to get together and volunteer and help out and be accepting to make this work. It's time to put up or shut up.
Donate your time to the red cross to work in the shelter or to work phone lines to raise money to help.
Set an exapmle for the children of the area, everyone for that matter.
NO one is asking you to open your homes, these people just need you to open your hearts.
r howlett on 09 Sep 2005
There are more than 1400 reg sex offenders in orleans parish. is anyone checking the backgrounds of the refugees.
r howlett on 09 Sep 2005
There are more than 1400 reg sex offenders in orleans parish. is anyone checking the backgrounds of the refugees.
Shane Johnson on 09 Sep 2005
Do you actually know how many sex offenders all ready live in Portland and the surrounding area?
Now that our fellow Americans who have lost their homes and jobs are not going to come to stay in our community you can devote your time to finding out about the sex offeders who already live in our community and neighborhoods.
I also think that everyone who expressed so much concern about the "Criminal Element" should have plenty of time to deal with the Meth and Heroine addicts and criminals who troll thorough our neighborhoods and break into our cars.
It truely is amazing all of the things that we have turned a blind eye to for so long but within the last week got really serious about. It sure does make it look like a race issue folks.
For a long time now I have exercised my dogs at Washington High school field like many of you. Trash, boken glass, overgrown plants and grass,discarded furniture and televisons, junkies and drunks, have littered the area but nothing was ever done about it. Shame on us?
I jumped on board with the Red Cross to prepare Washington High School for the arrival of American Citizens who were on their way to stay with us. I am still going to stay involved with the Red Cross and I am more then anxious to become involved in this community. If anyone could direct me in the right direction to become involved I would appreciate it.
So since there was so much concern about the community, now that our fellow Americans aren't coming here I'd like to see the wind stay in everyones sails.
While we sit in our dry homes with our bellies full, drinking water from our taps, using our computers, lets keep these things in mind and work to fix our community.
I am proud of the work that was done to pull this together. There were a lot of people who gave up their time and energy. Who knows when the fault line starts rumbling hopefully someone will keep us in mind if our neighborhood falls to ruins.
Frank Dufay on 10 Sep 2005
I also think that everyone who expressed so much concern about the "Criminal Element" should have plenty of time to deal with the Meth and Heroine addicts and criminals who troll thorough our neighborhoods and break into our cars.
It truely is amazing all of the things that we have turned a blind eye to for so long but within the last week got really serious about. It sure does make it look like a race issue folks.
Actually, the concern I heard expressed at the first Buckman meeting was far less about a criminal element coming in then about plopping down 500 folks who've already suffered so much right into an area that's been plagued by a local criminal element. That neighborhood folks haven't turned a blind eye to, but have been trying to deal with for a long time...with limited success.
500 guests from out of town on cots...I don't care if these are boy scouts, that's going to be a challenge. And FEMA unable to answer as simple a question as who are these people and do they want to be in Portland, thousands of miles from home and, possibly, family?
I'm proud of Portland's response, and willingness to work so hard to try to make sure we did this right.
Shane Johnson on 10 Sep 2005
Frank,
Don't get me wrong. I agree with the things that you stated. I am proud to live in a neighborhood that reacted so selflessly. I too was trying to get a grasp on what the impact of 500 to 1000 new residents would mean to the neighborhood.
I heard a few people that were really concerned about the "Criminal" element and I just want to make sure that they are still concerned about it.
I again would like to know if there is any way that myself and others in my area can become involved to help work on this problem. I have had my car broken into several times and have had people rumaging around my house and would like to see it stop.
I guess what I was also reaching for was a way to get more involved in the community and be a positive force in this area.
Clackablog on 25 Sep 2005
1. Speaking as a private citizen and a survivor of multiple hurricanes, I have to say Wapato as a shelter is a Really Dumb Idea, for reasons which are not immediately apparant to y'all. Yes, I say y'all, because I am a you-all from the Deep South.
I was an emergent volunteer ('Hi. I don't know anything, but I have these skills and may I please help?') after Hurricane Frederic in '79, and was sent to the Pritchard, Alabama city jail by local goverment to establish a radio link.
Black folks got bused to the shelter to serve as a jail, without being told where they were going. (Remind you of any other agency's 'planning'?) They arrived, looked at where they had been sent, and *walked away*, preferring to sleep in the woods than in a jail. I cannot imagine any different reaction to a jail here.
I would have hoped Sheriff Giusto would know that, for he's a bright guy who often does not miss important factors. Diane Linn? Look in Wikipedia under Clueless, and her photo should be there.
An obscenely high number of young American black men end up in jail, thanks IMHO to our bad joke of an education system, which warehouses instread of teaches, and is primarily serving as a jobs program for middle class folks rather than actually teaching useful life skills. Because of that, black folk are rightly suspicious of anything involving a jail, especially in a strange place, far from home, where the (supermajority white) people 'talk funny,' and it's cold. (Relatively.)
Then, too, a shelter is more than beds. It's playspaces for young kids, it's access to communications, it's a place for social services to reintegrate the clients back towards normality, and much, much more. The jails I've visited have been deficient in these aspects, being designed to warehouse criminals instead of promoting change.
BTW, I'm pretty sure local Portland TV stations' coverage of this story aired in the Louisiana and East Texas media markets, for one Portland station has several 'sister stations' there, as well as a strong traditition of sharing news items between those stations. This might have explained why FEMA did not fly evacuees to the Washington-Madison shelter, and why that shelter only served some the self-directed evacuees who got here on their own, or with help from friends and family which was soon exhausted. Could be other reasons, too. FEMA's fiasco in Salt Lake City could have provided a Clue to someone Clueful in FEMA, or up the food chain.
2. r howelett stated
> There are more than 1400 reg sex offenders in orleans parish.
> is anyone checking the backgrounds of the refugees.
Shelter operations separate single men and single women from families, and playspaces for children are supervised far better than in the outside world.
And, it should be noted that 'sex offenders' is an overly broad term. Folks get swept in that net for single incidents of sex with a minor while a minor, for example... many of my high school friends, if caught doing what human animals do in high school, would have been so branded. No apologia for recividists, but let's not be simplistic here.
3. And, something neglected in this thread... what are YOU doing to make sure you're prepared for the next natural disaster to strike close to home? With a 10-20% chance of a Major Subduction Zone quake in the next decade, you're at risk, just like folks on the Gulf of Mexico are.
Is your emergency kit ready? (I should not say '72-hour kit', because this experience shows you will need about a week's self reliance unless you want to try the new FEMA diet.)
Does it include not only food & water (a gallon a day a person, because you need to wash up to keep your morale high, as well as have water for drinking and cooking), but also shelter (for heat, rain and cold) and bodily maintenance necessities?
Got a carrier, food and water for your pets?
Got copies of your IDs stashed elsewhere, along with hard cash, if case you have 30 seconds to get out of your home in the middle of the night before the quake shakes it to pieces?