Feel good Story ~ A Mother of 6 Gets a Chance for a new life

Casshew

Former Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Messages
27,884
Reaction score
88
Nicole Singleton smiled as she sat on a cot in this city's cavernous River Center convention arena, digging through boxes of her six children's belongings pulled from her flood-ravaged apartment.

"What do I really need?" Ms. Singleton asked herself as she debated consolidating several boxes into one. For all that she'd lost to Hurricane Katrina days earlier, on Tuesday, Ms. Singleton felt she had something to look forward to. She was about to board a flight to Minnesota and, she hoped, a new life.


"I don't know a thing about Minnesota," says the 33-year-old, a New Orleans native who worked on and off steaming sheets and styling hair. "There's nothing here for me, and this is my chance to start again."

Katrina cut a destructive swath through the Gulf Coast, upending lives and causing huge dislocation. Yet for some New Orleanians, the hurricane also offers a glimmer of a silver lining. New Orleans has for years been known as one of the nation's murder and drug capitals. Many evacuees, especially the unemployed and those with low-paying jobs who don't own property, see moves elsewhere as opportunities for a fresh start.

The transition likely will be difficult. Many evacuees lack basic job skills, have no college degrees or no high-school diplomas. Many have never even left New Orleans or their neighborhoods.

Hundreds of evacuees have approached the Red Cross travel desk here asking to be taken out of the area. "People come here and say, 'I want to go to Minneapolis. Or, 'I have a relative in Texas, just get me there and I can start all over,' " says Deborah Thomas, a volunteer managing the desk. Other volunteers say similar scenes are playing out at shelters across the region.

Earlier this week, a group of women huddled around a bulletin board here scanning postings for jobs and free housing in California, South Dakota and New Jersey. Many couldn't point out some states and cities on a map. Ms. Singleton had looked at the same bulletin board for her chance at a new life.


More here
 
Anybody got a tissue? Bless this woman and the family taking her and her children in. I hope she finds her daughter and has the best life from this point forward!!!
 
Pass the tissue, please. Heartwarming tearjerker, for sure.
 
211_kleenex.JPG

.....
 
Thanks, Casshew, I needed that! Between this story and then reading about the pets and seeing that dear little rescued beagle.

And, to think of so many others, just like this lady and that beagle, needing help ... sad. :(
 
Liz said:
Thanks, Casshew, I needed that! Between this story and then reading about the pets and seeing that dear little rescued beagle.

And, to think of so many others, just like this lady and that beagle, needing help ... sad. :(

If people will quit blaming them then many are on the way to recovery.
 
That was one of the best stories I've read. Thanks Cass.

Nancy
 
I sit here with tears spilled on the keyboard. This is one of the most moving stories I have read about Katrina's survivors and heros.
I hope they follow up on this story. SO moving.
Thanks Cass for posting it.
 
Bump for this story ~ read if you have a chance, it's a good one
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
248
Guests online
1,332
Total visitors
1,580

Forum statistics

Threads
589,166
Messages
17,914,840
Members
227,741
Latest member
Drury Lane
Back
Top