Evacuees struggle to adapt to new lives
BY TOM SPALDING
TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
Wayne Jefferson was a cook in steamy New Orleans. Now, he's a bell ringer for the Salvation Army in Indianapolis, learning to bundle up.
"That's what we got to get used to -- the cold weather and the snow," said Jefferson, 40, after a day working outside a Wal-Mart in Brownsburg. "We're trying to move on and take one day at a time."
At least 3,500 people from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama relocated, at least temporarily, to Indiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast. The largest contingent of evacuees is living at Covered Bridge Apartments in Indianapolis, now home to 102 hurricane families, including Jefferson's.
The move has been a mixed blessing for the hurricane evacuees. They say they are grateful to have a roof over their heads and appreciate the generosity shown by Hoosiers. But there are lows that have nothing to do with temperature.
* Many are still awaiting their benefits from the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- or watching federal assistance dwindle -- as the deadline approaches for them to begin paying rent.
* Many don't have jobs and are largely on their own when it comes to finding them now that the hurricanes are fading from the country's consciousness.
* Some say some of the promises that enticed them to come to the 250-unit Northwestside complex have not turned out to be true, such as $1,000 Wal-Mart gift cards.
"Covered Bridge gave us homes. Covered Bridge gave us something to start with," said Cheyenne O'Neal, 34, who lost her home and business when her neighborhood in eastern New Orleans flooded because of Katrina. "But there are still people that are missing their piece of the puzzle."
Covered Bridge is a well-worn apartment complex east of Georgetown Road and south of 71st Street.
Monarch Management & Realty, which oversees Covered Bridge, had a number of vacant apartments when the hurricanes struck and saw an opportunity to help.
Ken Puller, chief executive of Monarch, approved the donation of two months' free rent to evacuees; churches, business leaders and individuals across Central Indiana donated items such as mattresses, clothing and food.
The complex is owned by a nonprofit corporation called FACES -- Future Artist and Contemporary Educators Showcase -- that works on educational and housing issues. FACES also owns properties in Anderson and Lafayette. Monarch manages the apartments.
Making the adjustment
The first families settled at Covered Bridge in September. In late October, about two more busloads of evacuees came from Louisiana.
All of them were confronted with similar problems: the sudden loss of property; evacuation to emergency shelters; separation from their children and other relatives; and, in some cases, difficulty getting their FEMA checks.
O'Neal, for example, had her $2,000 FEMA debit card stolen when a fight broke out in Houston as a crowd of evacuees became angry when the supply of cards ran out. Covered Bridge tenant David Jarvis, 31, said one of his promised FEMA checks was stolen by a relative who forged his signature.
Heidi Viers, an executive with Monarch, keeps an updated file on every family, including people awaiting checks. One tenant didn't get money because he had been erroneously reported dead. Another family at Covered Bridge is trying to find a benefit check that was mistakenly sent to another address.
"I drink a lot of Red Bull to get through the day," said Viers, who often works late into the night, when she finds it easier to get FEMA operators on the phone.
While no one is keeping exact records, most agree that few of the evacuees have found good jobs, or any job at all, and time is running out. The first wave of transplants from the Gulf Coast must start paying full rent at Covered Bridge this month.
On their own
A lot has happened since Central Indiana churches had furniture drives and picnics this summer for the evacuees who relocated to Indianapolis.
Tornadoes last month killed 23 near Evansville. High energy prices have advocates for the poor worried that low-income Hoosiers will have to choose between heating and eating this winter.
As other needs arose, the Katrina evacuees found themselves depending more on each other than any outside agency or institution.
Perhaps the low point for the evacuees came in November when a couple who fled Katrina and were living at Covered Bridge were arrested in connection with the death of their 4-month-old son.
Michael D. Sumner Jr., 21, and Rasheeda D. Williams, 20, ignored a Louisiana child protection order when they arrived in Indianapolis. Police say Sumner admitted to smashing the infant's head into a wall at the apartment where they've lived since Oct. 14.
After the boy's death, city officials said they were going to intensify their work with the Katrina evacuees at the complex.
"I think there have been a lot of good intentions throughout this effort," said Jeff Bennett, a city official. "(But) we're getting a fair number of calls from residents of Covered Bridge specifically who have needs that aren't being met."
Katrina evacuees Evangela Henry and her fiance, James Saylor, both 20, moved to Covered Bridge in October. Both are upset about the benefits that other evacuees got that her family did not.
But Saylor has a job working at a company that distributes office products now, and both are determined to make the best of their new home.
"I do enjoy it up here, and I like it; the people are nice," Henry said. "But it sort of feels like you've been lied to. . . . We haven't gotten (all) our assistance, and it's frustrating."
Exaggerated claims?
Some of the evacuees' complaints stem from a flier promising free bus passes, gift cards, job fairs and more that was distributed by a now-former Monarch employee during a recruiting trip in Louisiana.
A number of promises were kept. But the flier said a neighborhood grocery store is "across the street" from the complex. In fact, it is about a half-mile walk up a busy road, an important fact for the many evacuees who don't have cars.
The flier promised free bus passes, but the complex ran out of them.
Finally, the flier said the Salvation Army would be "giving ($)1,000.00 gift cards to spend as you wish at Wal-Mart."
Jerry Larsen, the Salvation Army's state development director, said such a promise was never authorized.
"I am concerned that somebody would use the Salvation Army by making untrue statements," he said.
Monarch's Puller said the flier was based on bad information the employee received from social service agency employees she encountered in Louisiana. He said he did not know any further specifics. The employee no longer works for Monarch.
"Most people are very happy," Puller said of the evacuees at Covered Bridge. "If you go to any other shelter or any other apartment, they aren't doing half the stuff we're doing."
There also have been some complaints about the condition of the complex's apartments, which generally rent for $400 to $600 a month.
Sue Ward, an American Red Cross volunteer who helped evacuees at the complex in September and has independently continued to check on their welfare, has taken photographs of the interiors of some apartments -- photos that show damaged appliances, worn flooring, broken bathroom fixtures and holes in ceilings.
Monarch's Viers said the company has tried to keep up with repair requests.
Amy Lickliter, a volunteer with Grace Community Church in Noblesville, which cleaned and painted more than 70 apartments at Covered Bridge before evacuees' arrival in the fall, said she thinks apartment management did its best to get the empty apartments into shape.
After being forced from their homes by a flood, some evacuees consider the condition of the homes or the promises of more help to be relatively minor obstacles.
Jefferson and his wife, Miranda, 25, have lived in an apartment at the complex since Sept. 12. He's zipping up his coat and pressing on as winter comes to Indiana.
One of the parts of his job as a bell ringer that Jefferson likes is when Hoosier shoppers inquire about his background during conversations.
"I say 'I'm from New Orleans' . . . (and) they say, 'Here's an extra buck.' "
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
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Big promises
A flier distributed by a Covered Bridge employee to recruit hurricane evacuees to Indianapolis included a number of incentives, such as:
* "Food available any time."
* "Bus passes free through the Salvation Army."
* "Salvation Army in Indy giving $1000.00 gift cards to spend as you wish at Wal-Mart."
* "Kroger grocery store across the street."
* "2 miles from Lafayette Square (mall)."
The complex delivered on promises for two months' free rent and no application fee or security deposit. And it hosted job fairs, had a Pike Township Schools representative come to the site and allowed tenants to select donated furniture and clothing.
The complex, however, ran out of bus passes. The gift cards were never authorized. The mall is 4 1/2 miles away from the complex, and the grocery store is actually a half-mile away on a busy road.
The employee who put together the flier no longer works for the complex.
-- Tom Spalding
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Help for evacuees
It won't be long before most of the evacuees at Covered Bridge in Indianapolis have to start paying rent.
Help: The Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority is working to process 60 applications for rental assistance payments to tenants of Covered Bridge Apartments. The agency was created in 1978 by the Indiana General Assembly to help low- and middle-income Hoosiers obtain affordable homes. It does not use state or local tax dollars.
Monarch: Monarch Management & Realty, which donated two months' rent for more than 100 families staying at Covered Bridge, did not seek government repayment for the lodging for the two months.
Donations: The Northwestside complex has been collecting household goods for the displaced families and still needs donated items. To help, call the complex at 4909 Covered Bridge Road at (317) 293-9926.
