Maryland state and county authorities shelled out more than $500,000 to help evacuees from the Gulf Coast nearly a year ago in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Rev. Jimmy Jones was not one of those recipients, though the two-story home he shared with his sister in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans was flooded to the second floor, forcing him to relocate to Baltimore.
“It was like I was disqualified for everything,” Jones told The Examiner. “It?ll be at least two years or more” before Jones and his wife, Jessica, say they think they might be able to return home.
They stayed with his sister, Pastor Gertrude Stevens of Crusade Ministries, a Living Church in Hanover. Jones is trying to find work to support his wife,who underwent brain surgery during their stay and to save up so they can go home and rebuild.
“It?s been heartfelt,” Jessica Jones told WJZ-TV reporter Jessica Kartalija Sunday after their service. “I really feel that people love us even though they don?t really know us. They gave us a chance and helped out with our family.”
Stevens, and her church, helped 15 people escape the devastation of Katrina. Of those, an elderly woman died soon after, and 10 others received temporary housing subsidies from the State of Maryland until they returned to Louisiana.
“I took them to my house in Glen Burnie” initially, Stevens said. “Maryland blessed my family. I consider myself more a Marylander now, after having lived in Louisiana so long.”
Maryland?s Department of Human Resources spent more than $550,000 accommodating 3,433 Katrina evacuees, with almost $200,000 of that money going to the Baltimore region. No information was immediately available from the DHR about how much of that money has been repaid, despite federal promises to cover individual states? expenses housing evacuees.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency did not immediately return phone calls for comment.
Meanwhile, Jones, who worked in a hospital before the evacuation, is having trouble finding part-time work that won?t keep him on his feet all day.
His knees are buckling under the pressure of severe arthritis and he can no longer do the hospital work that sustained him in New Orleans. Until he finds his answer, he plays guitar and sings with his sister?s church, and prays.
“I?m just going on by faith. I know something?s going to happen before long,” he said.
Follow the money
Maryland jurisdictions spent more than half a million dollars aiding evacuees from the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
» Maryland $554,630
» Baltimore City $86,656
» Anne Arundel County $37,852
» Baltimore County $31,849
» Howard County $20,498
» Harford County $11,457
» Carroll County $6,438
Source: Maryland Department of Human Resources
