FEMA works to keep trailer parks temporary - Stops religious activities

[The Straight Story]

FEMA works to keep trailer parks temporary

By Paul Singer, National Journal

BAKER, La. -- At Renaissance Village, a massive emergency trailer park on the outskirts of Baton Rouge that houses some 1,600 evacuees from New Orleans, FEMA briefly banned religious services last month. That seemingly callous move speaks volumes about some of the challenges that the Federal Emergency Management Agency faces: It's trying to run a makeshift town that it wants to shut down after 18 months, and it's providing services to people who it hopes will move away even sooner.

For the "mayor" of Renaissance Village, FEMA manager Michael Cosbar, the church issue is just the latest trailer-park headache that his agency did not anticipate and is ill-equipped to address.

Ever since FEMA set up this community in October to shelter victims of Hurricane Katrina, religious charities have been active. Cosbar, who oversees most of the agency's trailer communities in the state, says he was unaware that Christian groups were regularly leading Bible study classes and holding Sunday school and other religious services.

After learning about the religious activities, he announced on February 16 that FEMA would no longer allow them. An independent evangelist named Pastor Judah, who had parked his 40-foot motor home on the site and was handing out tracts and praying with residents, was told to leave.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33596&dcn=todaysnews

[rkc3]

1. How can federally funded, faith-based initiatives get in to minister

to these folks if FEMA is banning religious services? Sounds like someone could be losing their job.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. Saw a brief interview on Nightline last night w/the FEMA chief

Only saw the last few minutes, but he did say that the FEMA official in charge at the Renaissance is "being dealt with".

[Terra Terra]

2. Good

If the fundies want to have their bible parties let them use a local church. There's no place for it on publicly funded land. I'm sure there are plenty of local churches that would be happy to welcome them into their congregations.

[Lisa0825]

7. Exactly what I was thinking....

Why bring the churches to the people when you can bring the people to the churches?

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[MadMaddie]

3. This is an interesting turn of events...many of the Katrina victims

only have their faith to hold on to considering they lost their lives, their homes and loved ones. And now Fema is taking the one thing from them that is keeping them grounded.

So is Fema persecuting and restricting the right to worship? This is a violation of the constitution isn't it!!

Here is an issue that the Democrats could show that they do care about the right to worhsip without government interference....will they cease the opportunity...?

[Warpy]

4. FEMA was always meant to provide limited support

not permanent support and always assumed the economy would support people getting loans to repair damaged houses so they'd be ready to leave within 2 years or so. FEMA trailers are not the lap of luxury, and most people will want to leave them ASAP if they are able.

What they didn't anticipate (and should have) was losing an entire large city and having people whose homes were destroyed, not damaged, with inadequate money floating around for rebuilding loans and an equally devastated economy that didn't support their returning to their jobs even if they'd been able to rebuild their housing.

Clearly something needs to change. The schedule FEMA has given these people is as arbitrary as it is rigid. It can and should be altered to fit the very special circumstances that accompany the near obliteration of a large city.

After all, NO was probably the first. Other coastal cities are equally at risk.

[MadMaddie]

6. You said something important

<snip>
always assumed the economy would support people getting loans to repair damaged houses
<snip>

More insurance claims have been turned down in the history of home insurance...SBA loans have been rejected left and right and an alarming rate....

It was assumed that these things would work like clock work...there was no mitigation planning on the what if things didn't go according to plan.....

What the Gulf states need to do is initiate a "New Deal" kind of program....get the people back to work to build or rebuild their neighborhoods themselves...(no outsourcing to Haliburton, no no bid contracts) help rebuild the infrastructure themselves...in the mean time providing food and shelter...Each state should have a plan that excludes Fema from their plans....

The government should allow any small business person a dollar amount to get going again....so money can get into the economy again....the economy will start feeding itself...

You are right NO is just the beginning...

[marions ghost]

8. how crass

and hypocritical. If this official was in the same state the dislocated people are in, he might have a little more heart.

Let those people decide what they want by way of temporary religious meetings.