Human Hurricane: Street People massing in New Orleans

PR Log (Press Release) – Apr 12, 2008 – God's wrath could not have done a more complete job of wiping a city from the earth. Three years after one of the most devastating hurricanes to hit land life is yet to return to normal for most people in New Orleans.  Still in a city that was to receive social services, FEMA aid, housing redevelopment and debit cards from the President for every resident the return to life before the hurricane is slow except for one group of residents in the city.

Street people, those that live on the fringe of society sleeping in public parks, eating from garbage cans, and hustling change by panhandling have returned to the city en mass.  Different from the homeless, as almost everyone in New Orleans is trying to return to their pre-Katrina home, street people are often the mentally ill or substance abusers who scrape out an existence on the edge of society living off a communities casts off and handouts.  A team of photographers and interviewers from the website Street-people.com will be in New Orleans, April 17-19, 2008 to write about how in a city with a chance to start fresh, the only thing fresh in the street people.

“This is the third visit since the hurricane by a team from http://www.street-people.com ” commented one of the site’s creators.  ‘We have tried to focus on a different element of the redevelopment of the city. While many people are still in need of housing and jobs, those that often do not have the ability to express their needs for assistance seem to have been passed over and returned to their former existence of residing in parks and living off the scraps of society.”  The website questions why a city that has had the chance to start from scratch with social services and aid to all it’s residents has once again passed over those with a distinct need for help.

Street-people.com bills itself as the online home for the homeless without the urine smell.  Referred by social service agencies as in bad taste the site features a gallery of street people and their stories accompanied by belittling commentary from the writer.  It’s bad taste style of humor has garnered attention and devoted fans placing it as cult website.  The street team will be in the city taking pictures and posting new stories about street people from New Orleans April 17-19, 2008. To follow their tour of the city visit http://www.street-people.com