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GULF COAST CRISIS

Town gets family on feet
Down on their luck before Katrina, a Louisiana couple and their kids start over with help from Local Area

There's a chocolate cake on the kitchen table, a mini-van in the driveway and a new computer whirring in the corner of a four-bedroom cabin--all of it provided for free.

A) I’m getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from this story already!
B) I’d really like a new computer myself, but I’m too busy paying for heat.

Even as Name Withheld describes his recent good fortune since fleeing the devastation in New Orleans, two volunteers are installing windows on his new home.

A) Isn’t it wonderful how Americans all pull together?
B) Wish I could get some of that cheap evacuee labor to wash a few windows around here…

For the former felon from Louisiana, his wife and four children, life--so far at least--has turned out pretty well in the northwest suburbs, where they have become the self-proclaimed "hurricane family of Local Area."

A) How beautiful! A deserving family getting a fresh start.
B) Apparently law abiding citizens don’t rate articles or TV shows, isn’t that right, Martha?

"We go out to dinner, and people recognize us," said Name Withheld, 32. "They pick up the tab. It's unbelievable."

A) I’d do the same.
B) I’d be afraid if we went out to dinner and people recognized me, they’d spit in the food.

A little more than a month ago, Name Withheld, his pregnant wife and children were crammed into a rented three-bedroom trailer, tucked in the woods on the outskirts of Slidell, a New Orleans suburb. He said they were living "paycheck to paycheck."

A) Those poor babies!
B) Who told them to have all those kids?

Then Hurricane Katrina hit in late August, battering Name Witheld's mobile home to pieces. Trees crashed through the roof and smashed the bedrooms. The family's banged-up 1995 Dodge Dakota was wrecked. After staying in motels and with relatives, they were picked up by Name Withheld’s uncle, who lives in Local Area and drove 16 hours one way to retrieve them.

A) I’d do that for a family member.
B) I’d drive 16 hours to avoid a family member.

Although the killer storm wreaked havoc throughout the Gulf Coast, claiming more than 1,000 lives and destroying livelihoods, it afforded Name Withheld and his family, he said, the opportunity to start over with new stability, new comforts and the support of a whole town.

A) I’m sure they will make the most of this chance and prove worthy of our trust.
B) Oh, are they gonna screw this up…

The most recent chapter in Name Witheld's life has been provided largely by Local Area's residents. For starters, the home at YMCA Camp Local Area has been provided gratis for at least the next year.

A) Our community is so generous!
B) Tell that to the guy who has lived under the local bridge for years.

"The whole community has pulled together to help them out," said Community Pillar, a volunteer and regional director for the Local Area Jaycees Association. "It's been remarkable to see so many people together. The cabin was in rough shape. Now it is a home."

A) Bet they give it to another needy family when they are done.
B) Let’s see what kind of shape it is in after the year is up.

Unemployed for the last six months in Louisiana, Name Withheld was given a job at a local heating and air-conditioning company. He received a cell phone and a Plymouth mini-van with insurance. The family even has a computer with Internet access, a "luxury" Name Withheld said he has never had before.

A) He’ll use it to look for a job.
B) Think he’ll Google himself and find this blog? I know, I’ll remove all names.

The unexpected opportunities created by the hurricane have given Name Withheld the chance to put his troubled past behind him and start fresh, he said.

A) It’s so great to offer someone a fresh start.
B) Guess Barbara Bush was right.

"I needed something stable, and now I have long-term prospects," he said on a recent afternoon. "This is my chance."

A) You Go, Name Withheld!
B) NIMBY, NIMBY, NIMBY

The new lifestyle is a stark contrast to the one they left as the hurricane bore down on Slidell, about 30 miles northeast of New Orleans, one of the hardest-hit communities.

The family was receiving food stamps and other aid. Name Withheld said he foolishly had quit his job as an assistant manager at a fast-food chicken chain six months earlier. He had worked there on and off for 15 years and said he wanted to try heating and air-conditioning work.

A) What an incredible outpouring of support, the way he was offered a job in the field he wished to pursue.
B) Um, excuse me? If a hurricane blew away my house, would anyone offer me my dream job? I think not. I’d be waiting tables and working at Merry Maids.

Name Withheld said he loves Louisiana but won't miss what he left behind. Over the years, he has had at least three criminal convictions for offenses that include theft, assault and forgery, he said. A spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Corrections said Name Withheld was released from probation in 2004, five years after pleading guilty to theft. He did not serve prison time.

A) Anyone can make a few mistakes.
B) Is there going to be a follow up to this story in a year?

As Name Withheld started his new job Monday, Camp Local Area is getting ready to house four more evacuee families this month, director Helping Hand said. Volunteers at the 118-acre camp, located on property owned by the Local Area Conservation District, are refurbishing a large cabin to accommodate the additional families.

A) We have the resources to help so many more. Helping feels good.
B) Hellooooo…you there, under the bridge. Still hungry?

"This is not a shelter," Helpind Hand said. "This is their new home. It's a new beginning for them."

The outpouring from the community has been remarkable.

A) I’m so proud of everyone.
B) Perhaps we’re putting a little too much pressure on these poor folks? Perhaps they feel uncomfortable being pet causes?

More than 400 volunteers, including electricians and plumbers, chipped in to prepare the cabins and provide supplies, ranging from food and toiletries to toys and a television.

Local Businessman, owner of Custom Heating and Air, installed heating systems and air filters in the cabins. He also gave Name Withheld a job.

"The door is wide open for them," L.B. said. "The whole community is helping out."

The donated goods take up nearly all the space in a separate camp cabin. Crates of clothes are stacked nearly 5 feet high in a room that resembles a "mini-mall," as Helping Hand called it.

The pantry holds more than 50 cans of pineapple chunks, peas, pears--all stacked ceiling high. A local company is donating a cow to be butchered, H.H. said.

The outpouring of help has made Name Witheld's decision to stay an easy one, he said.

His children One, 9, Two, 6, and Three, 4 are attending local public schools and preschool. His wife, Mrs. Name Withheld, is caring for their newborn, Four.

The place already feels like home, he said.

A) Tell all your friends!
B) Just be glad I wasn’t a Supreme Court nominee.

But still, "nobody knows who cries behind closed doors," Name Withheld said. "It's tough. But we are putting a smile on our face. And we are very thankful."

A) We know you are.
B) Just live up to it, ok? (But no pressure, really)

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Scoring:

All A’s: How did you stumble into this site? It’s much too coarse for your delicate sensibilities. Please remove any cookies from your browser and lie down in a darkened room for a few hours.

Mostly A’s: Do you know me? Or did someone else refer you here? You are much too kind to be reading this site. Go back to Cutepuppydog.com while you can.

Mostly B’s: A regular reader, right? I’m saying the things you don’t dare. You secretly admire me.

All B’s: Call me! I have a few world-domination theories I bet you’d like to discuss…