Dear Family and Friends - 

We apologize for not keeping you better informed as to the progress of our evacuee family, so here is Mabel's story and ours...

Mabel and her two children, girls 8 and 13, moved in with us about the time you received our email telling you her story. They lived with us for about 3 weeks. In that time we received about $3,500.00 from the our church, and you, our family and friends. We are very proud of our social network and what you accomplished. My friend Gordon Hardy raised over $1,500.00 by himself and Jane’s daughter Christine had people from all over the country sending checks to us. 

The time that Mabel lived here was rocky, to say the least. Although I had little trouble with people living in my basement, it was very difficult for Jane. No negative judgments here – we are just different people who are effected by different things. We did learn a lot about the life of a very poor person in America and it’s not pretty. The saddest part is that Mabel is smart and has some true leadership skills. Having a child at 14 can really lower your expectations. 

In the end, we did what was necessary to get her set up here in Atlanta. A church member’s son had a car he was storing at his parents house while he was living in Hawaii, so he donated the car to Mabel. Jane and I used your donated money to put down the security deposit and pay the first months rent on an apartment along with insurance for the car and some repairs. Mabel got a job in housekeeping at the Doubletree Hotel in Smyrna. So – car, apartment, job – she is back on her feet and we can declare victory. 

I (John) was very affected by the whole Katrina experience – America has to really look at how we treat our poor. Blaming the problems of Katrina on racism gives a good part of America a free pass on the whole issue - “Oh, that’s ridiculous!”, say most as they dismiss the whole problem. But racism is not the problem – it’s how we deal with poor people. There have always been poor people and I believe there will always be poor people. But I have met many folks over the last month who really believe that the poor got that way because of their own bad decisions. There is this huge trend in America to blame the poor for being poor. I actually heard a radio talk show wacko say we should “punish the poor, for being poor”. Man – “are there no work houses?, are there no prisons?” Do we really want to aspire to the philosophy of Ebenezer Scrooge? 

All we can say is we’re proud of our actions and the efforts of you, our friends and family. That’s all you can do, right?

Since no good deed can go unpunished, we had our own little flood here at the house exactly one day after Mabel left – the hot water heater broke and flooded our finished basement – what a mess. 

Ah life – ain’t it grand! 

Thank you and we love you 

John & Jane 

Contact John and Jane Schaberg