A Katrina ‘thank you’
Published 2:07 pm Friday, September 10, 2010
Dear editor:
As the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, I realize that I have been remiss in thanking Cassopolis and so many people for opening their hearts and homes to us when we evacuated.
Like most New Orleans people, we packed for a weekend, never imagining the tragedy that would enfold. While my husband and I did not know if we would have jobs or a home to return to, my in-laws — elderly and on a limited income — lost everything. They had never traveled from Louisiana prior to the storm and were lost and frightened.
Enter Cassopolis. Friends found a home for them to stay in, Rite Aid helping with prescriptions and a local bank helped set up an automatic deposit so they could receive their monthly Social Security benefits. For the first time in their lives, my in-laws experienced the warmth and beauty of the north. Clothes and supplies mysteriously arrived, dinner invitations were issued. When it grew too cold for them to remain in a summer cottage, we relocated them to Chack Bay, a rural area in the town of Thibodaux, La. People who who had never met my in-laws showed up for a shower in their behalf and helped them start over again.
Had it not been for the generosity of Cassopolis, they never would have been able to begin again. We now drive an hour each way to take care of them on the weekends, but they are safe and well. They fell in love with Cassopolis and experienced a warmth that Katrina unnecessarily provided.
The media wrongly portrayed New Orleans as predominately poor, (with only) minorities and unlawful. What they failed to show were the hundreds of people of all colors, rich and poor alike, who lost their homes and their livelihood. Good, caring and hardworking people who are in the process of rebuilding their lives. I have been richly blessed to have been raised in a town that celebrates diversity and have found a second home in one that does as well.
New Orleans, like Cassopolis, has problems, but both have a rich heritage and much of that is focused on the people and their belief in helping others.
Thank you for being my first home and for opening your hearts to my family during Hurricane Katrina.
Barbara Barrett Fontenot
New Orleans