FEMA Reneges on Volunteer Housing
    By Allie Deger
    t r u t h o u t | Report

    Thursday 06 April 2006

"While the St. Bernard Parish Department of Recovery is making arrangements for secondary accommodations, this negligence on the part of FEMA is abhorrent and unacceptable."
--Michael Hays, Project Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity

    On March 22, 2006, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confused and impeded relief activists by announcing that they would not fulfill their future contractual agreements to provide housing at "tent city" Camp Premier in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, to volunteers working with aid organizations to remove debris from hurricane destroyed homes. The proposed housing permit cut-off of April 10, 2006, comes sharply short of FEMA's June 30th deadline commitment with Habitat for Humanity, crippling the future relief plans of thousand of volunteers, primarily students, who cannot afford to provide independent housing.

    Habitat for Humanity and Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) have been working to persuade FEMA to reactivate their contractual agreements. The halt in assistance to relief organizations is seen as a harshly detrimental to the formerly successful private reconstruction group, which has been responsible for clearing debris out of hundreds of homes. Michael Hays, Project Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity, openly criticized FEMA for hastily reneging on the contracts: "The region will not recover without the support of thousands of volunteers. The tremendous number of volunteer man-hours provided by the presence of these base camps saves the federal government an incalculable expense." Camp Premier has provided tent housing, including shower/restroom facilities and food, to approximately 3000 students thus far, and was intended to do so for an additional 2000 until the June 30th deadline that ends Habitat for Humanity's permit for using the tent city. FEMA estimates the cost of providing for one volunteer to be $100 dollars per day.

    Habitat for Humanity has been arranging for alternative housing for their volunteers since March 10, when they were notified by FEMA that Camp Premier, which typically housed 1,300 volunteers, would be reduced to 150. The displaced volunteers were housed in a gymnasium at Southern Louisiana University in Baton Rouge, a three-hour drive from the volunteers' work site. Michael Hays, frustrated by the scramble to find alternative housing for the plethora of students volunteering during their spring breaks, noted of FEMA that "It's a shame federal money is going to be used to house these volunteers 80 miles away and spend all kinds of money on buses shuttling people to and from New Orleans every day, not to mention the incredible waste of time."

    FEMA, under the Stafford provision of the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, is appropriated the authority to terminate contractual agreements if "the Director finds that there is a failure to expend funds in accordance with the regulations, terms, and conditions established under this subchapter for approved emergency preparedness plans, programs, or projects, [...] until the Director is satisfied that there will no longer be any such failure." The Stafford Act goes on to further extend the power of contractual termination: "Until so satisfied, the Director shall either withhold the payment of any financial contribution to such State or person or limit payments to those programs or projects [Sec. 621]."

    The decision to end the tent housing for volunteers in St. Bernard Parish comes as a surprise to aid organizations, which have come to depend on the assistance from FEMA. Leo Skinner, spokesman for FEMA, has given little insight into the organization's abrupt decision that has resulted in dire consequences for Habitat for Humanity: "Why is this facility being closed down? Well, FEMA originally had contracts for about the last six months to operate three camps in the New Orleans area, and the contracts run out mid-April." FEMA has yet to give a detailed statement on the decision. According to Michael Hays, FEMA did have an agreement with Habitat for Humanity for renewed contracts, but under the Stafford Act, the contract can be terminated by either Michael Jackson, with Department of Homeland Security, or David Paulison, Director of FEMA. Similarly, the reinstatements of such contracts can occur by the sole discretion of Michael Jackson or David Paulison.

    --------

    Michael Hays, Project Coordinator of Habitat for Humanity, wrote in a public statement: "While the St. Bernard Parish Department of Recovery is making arrangements for secondary accommodations, this negligence on the part of FEMA is abhorrent and unacceptable." Habitat for Humanity has been instrumental in removing debris from homes in the New Orleans area. In March alone, they rid approximately 350 houses of debris. Part of their success has been due to their ability to mobilize large groups of volunteers (primarily students) to New Orleans. Without the contractual assistance they have come to rely on FEMA for, their results will be drastically reduced.