Katie Neason; extendthedeadline.org

Katie Neason:

So when I called everybody else started receiving checks, the same time I had applied, they had applied. And they started receiving checks and I didn’t get mine, so I waited a couple days and I waited and waited and finally I said no something is wrong. And I got on the phone and called. And that’s when they told me the check had been mailed out on the 9th and that’s when I found out they sent it to New Orleans. And they told me there was nothing they could do about that. At that time I was not told that it would take any amount of time or that I could stop payment on the check. So I kept calling and calling. I gave them the correct address where at that time I was still at the hotel, gave them that address. And nothing came. I called the hotel everyday, up until the time they started to mail back, because people had moved out. Went over a couple times and had people checking on it. And nothing. I would call them and still the check had not gone back to FEMA. And to this day the check has not returned to FEMA. I don’t know where it is.

This interview was conducted by Stephen Geer of the Center for American Progress. There are also interviews of Dorothy Stukes and Diana Hill, who have similar Kafkaesque tales from FEMAland. The stories are posted at www.extendthedeadline.org. The site has noted FEMA's recent announcement extending the deadline for claims to January 11, 2006.

Neason, Stukes, and Hill are also all members of the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association:

At its inception, the Survivors Association has over 1,600 members who have already been organizing locally for better relief and a just rebuilding process, and the right to return home, in Baton Rouge, Houston, Dallas, Little Rock, New York City, Los Angeles, New Jersey and elsewhere. We plan to reach a total of 100,000 members in the next year. The ACORN Katrina Survivors Association will use public pressure, direct action, and dialogue with elected officials and public policy experts to win respect and a voice for survivors, the resources needed for families to survive, and a rebuilding plan that builds stronger communities for all.