The need for advocacy…
Bridge to Biloxi has explored many ways that we can offer support to folks on the Gulf Coast, and one of the most important is in the realm of legal advocacy. There are a variety of reasons why this issue is a specific concern, including the fact that many of the victims of Katrina are poor and under-educated, but they happen to own some of the most prized real estate in the South, especially since gambling has come to the Gulf Coast.
Many residents live on land that was bought and paid for generations ago and it’s their family’s only anchoring possession and asset. Immediately prior to Katrina, these families could hardly consider selling their properties…they had no mortgage and their subsistence level jobs were right there in the community. They didn’t have much, but what they had was theirs, and they were getting by.
Since Katrina, there are many monied interests hoping to get a great deal on this prime real estate, and they’re willing and able to wait to get it. The longer the poor property owners have to wait for relief and recovery efforts, the longer insurance companies delay paying or litigating claims, the more red tape that is thrown at them by federal, state, and local government…the less likely they will be able to hold on to the one thing they have left; that paid-for plot of land where their flooded house stands (or stood).
We recently met with Kathleen Johnson in Waveland, MS to discuss the dire situation in that community. One of the topics we got into was the need for legal advocacy, which can be done remotely via a number of Mississippi-based groups, such as the MS Center for Justice. Kathleen is an amazingly committed organizer of volunteers in Hancock County, and it’s revealing to hear her speak of the desparate need for advocates for folks who are being ignored, forgotten, or take advantage of…it’s best to hear her tell it…