Don't Close Camp Algiers
By Christopher Malone, Ph.D.

June 1st marks the beginning of 2006 hurricane season. Still reeling from
the effects of Katrina and a recovery effort that is moving at a snail's
pace, the people of New Orleans are courageously bracing for what will come
this summer.

Yet, June 1st is notable for another reason. At the very moment that
hurricane season commences, the Bush Administration has decided to cut off
funding for a facility that has been a lifeline for dozens of relief
organizations and thousands of volunteers who have given their time and
compassion to help New Orleans get back on its feet.

That is the day FEMA <http://www.fema.gov/>  will discontinue funding for
Camp Algiers, a temporary, full-service base camp located in the New Orleans
neighborhood of Algiers, run by Deployed Resources
<http://www.deployedresources.com/> .

Camp Algiers is one of the few things FEMA got right in the wake of Katrina.
Situated just across the river from downtown New Orleans, the camp opened on
September 27th, 2005 and received its first volunteers the next day.

Camp Algiers can house up to 1600 volunteers a day. It comes equipped with
linens for the beds in air-conditioned tents, hot and cold personal showers,
and laundry tent with washer/dryer units. There is a recreational tent with
a large screen color TV. There is also a football field and running track on
the premises. The dining hall serves three square meals a day, including a
"to go" lunch for volunteers who are working in the city during the day. It
also has bottled water, soft drink fountain, coffee, hot water for tea and
hot chocolate and fresh fruit out at all times.

The camp is open 24 hours a day - and the entire enterprise is funded by
FEMA.

How important has Camp Algiers been to the recovery of New Orleans? Since it
opened, Camp Algiers has housed over 11,000 volunteers. Nearly 40 relief
organizations have used Camp Algiers to conduct their operations by housing
staff, volunteers and contract workers there. Most of the nearly 4,000
college students that traveled to New Orleans for spring break stayed at
Camp Algiers. In late March, I went home to New Orleans and brought fifty of
my Pace University <http://www.pace.edu/>  students with me who stayed at
Camp Algiers for a week while we worked with ACORN <http://www.acorn.org/>
to clean and gut homes.

Quite simply, my students would not have been able to make the trip if Camp
Algiers was not available. The same could be said for thousands of others.

The cost to maintain Camp Algiers is but a drop in the bucket of funding
already allocated in the wake of Katrina. Consider this: Congress has
allocated some $80 billion for recovery and rebuilding along the Gulf Coast.
FEMA pays $116 per person per day to keep Camp Algiers open. The average
volunteer or contractor stays at Camp Algiers for 5 days. Thus, by even the
most liberal of calculations, FEMA has subsidized the army of volunteers
which has descended upon New Orleans these last 8 months all for less than
$10 million. Talk about getting the most bang for your buck.

If FEMA discontinues funding for Camp Algiers, thousands more who may want
to go to New Orleans to help out this summer will be faced with the
unfortunate choice of either paying for housing for themselves or not going
at all. Given this choice, we know the outcome: the river of volunteers will
simply dry up.

I know this because I plan to go back to New Orleans this August with a
group of my students. Many have said they simply could not afford staying in
New Orleans for a week if they had to pay their own way for housing and
food.

Gorge W. Bush came in to office in 2001 promising to unleash the power of
the "armies of compassion" upon the country's social ills. In the wake of
Katrina, an army of compassion materialized and descended upon New Orleans
to help her people; for the past 8 months these loyal foot soldiers called
Camp Algiers home base. Abandoned once, New Orleanians need not face this
double humiliation.
_____________________________________
Christopher Malone is Associate Professor of Political Science at Pace
University in New York. He is a native of New Orleans.

Contact FEMA and tell them to Keep Camp Algiers Open!!
Main Number (available 24/7):
Telephone: (202) 646-4600
Media Desk:
E-mail: FEMA-News-Desk@dhs.gov

Kathy Cable, Media Monitor
E-mail: kathryn.cable@dhs.gov
Telephone: (202) 646-7917

Barbara J. Ellis, News Desk/Preparedness
E-mail: barbaraj.ellis@dhs.gov
Telephone: (202) 646-4021

Dr. Christopher Malone
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Pace University
Chair, DFA
Director, <http://www.pace.edu/nyintern>  New York City Internship Program
861 Bedford Road Pleasantville, NY 10570
1 Pace Plaza New York, NY 10038
914-773-3428/212-346-1146
 <http://webpage.pace.edu/cmalone> http://webpage.pace.edu/cmalone