Our Bus Drivers

This is our second trip to New Orleans, and some of the most meaningful conversations we've had here have been with our wonderful bus drivers. Last year, we had "D." He helped to evacuate survivors of the hurricane and actually witnessed death en route to higher ground. This year we have Vernon (VCR). Vernon lost everything. He had been living in his family's house in the Upper Ninth Ward. When the storm hit, he evacuated to Dallas, Texas with his son. Through his job with Hotard Coach Busses, he was then contracted to do work for FEMA. He lived on the bus for a month, but he managed to make enough money for a down payment on a new house. This was very fortunate, as the city decided to tear down his family's property without his knowledge or consent. Luckily, he drove by his old house one day and saw the sign that it was going to be torn down. He appealed to the city to save the house; he wanted to rebuild. He did not win his case. On our Hurricane Katrina Bus Tour, we drove the empty lot where his family house had once stood. It's a ghost town. 

Unfortunately Vernon's story is one of many.