- ATD Fourth World

The work of the seminar was to bring out the experience and thinking of the residents of New Orleans who had know deep poverty, even before as well as after Katrina. Many of the participants were long-time members of the Fourth World Movement. They shared their stories of struggle and achievement and together we would draw lessons for the future.

The seminar covered a range of topics from education, housing, crime and unemployment. We broke into workshop groups to discuss these issues and to hear testimonies from Katrina survivors many of who had been displaced to other states. They couldn’t return because of the steep increases in rents after Katrina and a low paying job market. As Cathy discovered, “Katrina was certainly a disaster, but New Orleans was in trouble before Katrina, with its schools, poverty, crime and violence.” Lucille told her workshop that people in Dickenson County get together and do volunteer work and people come to the area to help with work on home repairs.

In her welcoming address, on the first day of the seminar, Prof. Luz Molina who is the director of the Loyola University College of Law said, “People do not understand poverty. They stay away from it. They criticize it. Poverty is like a disease that has to be eradicated, just as we work to eliminate physical disease.”

Don Everard of Hope House, an agency dealing with housing issues, spoke of housing as being a human right and that it’s included in The United Nations Bill of Human Rights.

It was a memorable as well as an educational experience for us all and gave us the opportunity to share in the experiences of many resilient people who have lived, fought and continue to persist through extreme hard times. My understanding of the many social issues stemming from poverty has been expanded and my hope is renewed as we continue to work for solutions.