Good Question

Why Did They Stay?

DENVER (CBS4) ― "I'm doing fine. I'm really doing fine," musician John Dawson said. "And you've got to be strong. It seems like a two-year nightmare that's not over yet."

Dawson practices his music with fellow Katrina evacuee Mark Raphael. The two of them have had successful careers in New Orleans, playing the French Quarter among other places. Now they're getting a few gigs here and there in Colorado, and getting help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, paying the cost of apartments in Aurora.

John said he's stayed because, "I have no choice. FEMA's paying my rent here. FEMA said, 'you want a nice apartment yes, we'll pay your rent,' so that's why I'm here."

Mark is going back, but has to wait for work being done repairing his home two years after Katrina swept through, sending a tree through the roof. The house eventually was filled with mildew and mold. Staying in Colorado would be nice, but New Orleans is home.

"If we were 20 years old, it would be quite easy to relocate yourself and re-establish yourself," Mark said. "But it's kind of hard at the age that we're at now."

They are two of the 3,877 Katrina and Rita evacuees still in Colorado. Some are making a new life, others are on hold. The Catholic Charities' Beth Shepherd supervised the Katrina program until recently. Now she's transitioning to a new job as a grant runs out. Catholic Charities will have nobody working full-time on Katrina and Rita evacuees after October. She said those who have stayed have remained, "For a number of different reasons. A lot of parents have stayed because the school systems are much better than what they had in the Gulf States. Some people just like it better here and some people are afraid to go."

John considered returning, but had trouble transferring the rent help he gets from FEMA. He said, "I'm still here because of red tape." He also worries about his safety. "But I don't want to go back down there where they're still having problems trying to rebuild stuff and it's not healthy and people are killing each other like flies. It don't make no sense."

Shepherd said some fear going back because of the difficulties.

"I think the fear that this could happen again, and I think many of the evacuees here have family that are currently back in the Gulf States and it's challenging there," Shepard said. "The needs there far exceed what you have here."

Catholic Charities is shifting some of the money it gets in a grant to counsel evacuees to the Gulf Coast. Its help includes job counseling and other advocacy roles. In October, they will shift evacuees who still have needs to regular social services. Many of the problems that remain are common to all indigent people. Starting next March, FEMA will begin asking people getting rent help to pay $50 a month. It will go up in increments from there until March of 2009, when all help specifically for Katrina evacuees in Colorado will end.

Right now, people who are still here are deciding. Where is their home, Colorado or Louisiana? Shepherd said many have made up their minds. "I think a lot of people have already reached that point. I think some of it is just how people identify themselves and when they're ready to reach that point and say, 'I can move on now.'"

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