[news] What Single Moms Coming Out of Katrina May Need

[Resist!ca]

As I watch the throngs of American citizens coming out of the Katrina disaster, I relate to the single moms, the "welfare moms," who had no property, spouse, or family when Katrina hit. I am a poor single mom. I immediately related to the fact that this hurricane, then aftermath, hit at the end of the month when poor people have the least money available, thus evacuation would have been impossible on their own. My son, who is now an adult, and I immediately realized that we would have been those left behind in New Orleans, as we are poor, with no car, or means. I have lived in New Orleans, and it was the poorest city I have ever lived in, for sure. Coming from the West Coast, that level of poverty was something I had never experienced before. To be in that kind of poverty, during a disaster of this proportion, while also being responsible for the lives of children, is overwhelming to even think about, much less live in real life.

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2005/9/5/22499/83708