FEMA's Expensive Ice!

After spending 2 years fighting with FEMA to fulfill their promise to Turk (which is still on-going, by the way), I heard the most disturbing news -

Following Katrina we heard that FEMA had purchased truckloads of ice, trucked it all to the Gulf Coast, and then (partly because it was several months following the storm) they did not use it. The news story at the time caught our attention because they were sending it to Fremont, Nebraska, a small town that we are quite familiar with as Randy's sister and nieces and nephews live there. The ice would be stored at a facility in Fremont.

FEMA had bought 224.3 million pounds of ice at a cost of $24 million (that is over $9 per pound!). The ice has sat around for almost 2 years at a cost of $12.5 million. Now the ice has been disposed of at a cost of $3.4 million. TOTAL COST: $39.9 MILLION!!!

Add this to the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on mobile homes that are rotting away in a field, the Billions of dollars that have simply disappeared, etc. etc. etc, and all we can do is shake our heads.

In the meantime, we continue to depend on the generosity of friends to help the Thornton family survive. The lawyer at Legal Aid is still working to get Turk the benefits that FEMA promised. It is so frustrating to hear these things while Turk struggles to provide the basic needs of life for the kids; simple things like soap and toilet paper (not to mention paying the rent!)

Now you may be thinking, "why doesn't Turk get a job". Here is the answer: Turk is 69 years old, he is living on Social Security and Social Security Disability (SSI) due to a serious injury that he sustained. The SSI prevents him from having a job, but it does give him the added benefit of qualifying for Medicaid. In New Orleans, his share of rent (which he split with 2 grown children) was $200. He had a lifelong collection of belongings - everything he could possiblly need and more. He was able to do his Paralegal work and earn enough to live comfortably.

Because the kid's mother chose to go back to New Orleans and leave her kids with Turk, she is not available to contribute to their support. Due to her alcoholism and mental illness, we prefer that she NOT be involved with the kids!

Now Turk is without any income except the SS and SSI. If he chose to give up the SSI, he would also give up Medicaid for himself, Medicaid and Food Stamps for the kids, and he would have the added cost of child care while he worked. When you stop to put these figures on paper, it becomes clear that he would have to have a VERY good paying job with insurance benefits in order to even offset what he would lose (and, oh yes, he would still have his disability to deal with).

In our opinion, it is much better that Turk can be at home with these kids who require much more time, attention, love and guidance than "normal" kids. Unfortunately, he falls into a crack in our system. All he needs is a way to survive - and that is all he desires. As long as he has the kids with him, he is happy.

Why aren't we all screaming about the injustice of all of this? What can we do? I want your ideas!

Stephanie

Check out the news stories mentioned at:
FEMA website: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=37842
CNN website: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0707/18/acd.02.html (scroll down about half way on the page)