National FEMA Trailer Tour

It’s been a few days since we decided to forgo the RNC and return to the Gulf Coast to do what we can to help folks deal with the aftermath of Gustav.  We left Denver and the DNC behind and headed to Raceland, Louisiana to meet with Brenda Dardar-Robichaux, Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation.  Louisiana’s 17,000 indigenous Houma people are scattered throughout the outlying areas of the state’s southern coastal parishes.  Rapidly disappearing coastal wetlands, environmental contamination and marginalization make recovery from each storm more difficult than the last.

Our Gulf Coast “family” extends from Alabama to Texas and although the media and general public look with relieved eyes at a largely unharmed New Orleans, we have heard from Brenda and others that communities in coastal Louisiana have experienced flooding worse than anything seen during Katrina or Rita in 2005.

We arrived in Raceland and presented tribal leaders with a check for $5,000 from the Gulf Coast Fund to help the United Houma Nation provide relief to the Houma families living in hard-hit Lafourche and Terrabonne Parishes.   As the day progressed and supplies came in, tribal members and helpers stocked the shelves of the Old Relief Store and carefully organized supplies into categories, such as food items, toiletries and cleaning supplies.

A big concern was getting supplies to the folks who most need them.  It’s important to understand that geographically, the native Houma people are not located in one central location, but are scattered throughout the southernmost parishes.  Many families are financially exhausted after the evacuation and return, and even if their vehicles are not flooded, gas money is a hardship.  To help distribute supplies directly to families (or for whatever need may later arise), we have decided to leave one of the KRV’s two FEMA trailers with Brenda.

Chief Robichaux seems dedicated and sure of her current mission – to provide much needed relief and supplies to her often invisible and marginalized families and communities.  The KatrinaRitaVille Express mission to educate and advocate for a complete and just recovery continues.  We are thankful Hurricane Gustav spared New Orleans.  But we have to open the eyes of the media and the world to communities that were not spared and are not okay.

Click on the United Houma Nation logo to get the most up to date information and photos.