Houston: We Have A Problem

Houston is, quite rightly, fed up with New Orleanians. They graciously took in 250,000 evacuees, and a year later, of those 150,000 or so who stayed in Houston, the “vast majority” are still on the dole.

Houston is a great place for the evacuees to be living because the economy is booming and the jobs are plentiful. However, according to Houston Mayor Bill White, many Katrina evacuees are not looking for work. At a job fair yesterday, White said, “In Houston, we´re a working city and if people are able-bodied and of working age, they ought to get a job. There´s a lot of jobs here. We have encouraged people to get back on their feet if they are evacuees.”

Experts point to at least 5,000 available jobs in Houston and neighboring Louisiana; however, many are going unfilled. A job fair was held yesterday to try to match evacuees with many of the employers hungry for workers.

With at least 150,000 Katrina evacuees still in Houston, a Texas labor survey showed that the vast majority are unemployed and almost half are living in households that bring in less than $500.00 per month. Some are still traumatized by Katrina; while others have transportation needs to reach places of employment in outlying areas. While New Orleans is a compact city, Houston is a mammoth city that evacuees are not used to navigating.

Yet, despite the challenges, White is ready for the evacuees to move on with their lives. During a tour of the job fair, White said, “We don´t believe in dependency in Houston. We´re a working city. It may not be the perfect job but there are jobs available and people should take them.”

Good grief. It’s been a year. If people are hungry, they’ll find they’re not too traumatized to work. Houston has public transportation, or if that’s inconvenient to your job, move nearby it. The point is that the job is the priority. Suffer some inconveniences, keep that paycheck coming in, and pretty soon you’ll have enough to buy a car. It worked for me.

I understand trauma. Years ago, I was diagnosed with PTSD and dissociative disorder. Trauma can be disabling. And if these evacuees can get a psychiatrist to diagnose them as such, they’ll get Social Security disability benefits and continue to live on the dole until they no longer qualify. In my case, I needed some medical care and counseling for a little while, and now I’m extremely productive, and have been for many years. But in the absence of a medical diagnosis that says they’re too traumatized to work – they should GET A FREAKING JOB!

Here’s the real problem:

Some evacuees do not have a history of employment in their family, but now is a good time to start. What may have been acceptable in New Orleans is not acceptable in Houston and that is a good thing.

We had a welfare culture in New Orleans. I’m familiar with that culture, because I was on welfare, and I’ve stood in those lines and gotten to know people who lived in that culture. We had generations of people living in housing projects, with little or no work, and much of that part time. The attitude of the people I spoke to was that of entitlement. “My check,” and “my benefits” were expected, even demanded. While in line, strategies were discussed, and advice was given on how to make sure you qualified for the benefits you “deserved.” For the vast majority of the people I personally met, their main plan in life was to receive government benefits. Little or no consideration was given to figuring out how not to need benefits. The planning I observed was for how to get them, and keep them. Now, my experience was 17 years ago, and it’s possible things have changed since then. But judging from what we’re hearing from Houston, it doesn’t look like it.

Houston – I’m sorry you’ve received our problem. I hope you handle it better than we did. Make a firm cut-off date and stick with it, because otherwise there will never be an end to it. That’s not just my opinion – that’s what actually happened here until Katrina.

[Bumped, and edited to link to a Wizbang post by Houston's DJ Drummond. He lists some specifics about how Houston welcomed folks from New Orleans, and what (little) they've received in return. For my part, thanks, Houston!]