

Spending a week on the Gulf Coast allowed me both the possibility to understand in a very real way the problems that still face Louisiana and Mississippi 3 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as the opportunity, in an admittedly small way, to help those individuals who still struggle daily with the reality of dire destitution. Many of these individuals are working class men and women whose salaries simply are not enough to recover from the total loss of a home for which insurance companies refuse to pay.