Qatar Adds More Treasure for N

Qatar adds more treasure for N.O. Agencies for homeless get $2 million gift Times-Picayune, Saturday, August 26, 2006 By Michelle Krupa The small oil-rich country of Qatar is again coming to the aid of New Orleans, this time with $2 million to help repair the facilities of 11 New Orleans agencies that provide services to the homeless, including children and the disabled. The gift to a consortium called UNITY of Greater New Orleans bolsters Qatar's already generous donations to New Orleans' institutions. In May, the Persian Gulf country sent $61.1 million to help in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina, with $22 million awarded to Habitat for Humanity, $12.5 million to Xavier University, $10 million to Tulane University, and the rest to Louisiana State University, Children's Hospital and the March of Dimes. Institutions applied for the aid through a painstaking review by Nasser bin Hamad al- Khalifa, Qatar's ambassador to the United States, and his staff. He has said he wanted to be sure the money would go to the people who needed it most. Martha Kegel, UNITY's executive director, said she expects to receive the grant next month and to divvy it up among agencies that will use it to repair damaged buildings that provided housing to homeless people before the storm. Kegel said the money is desperately needed. The challenge is enormous in the face of reduced staffing at the agencies and an increase in the population of homeless people in New Orleans, she said. "It's grown tremendously," Kegel said. "The need was great before the storm because the city had such a high poverty rate. But since the storm, you have so many people who were never at risk of homelessness who are now homeless: people who are living in cars; people who are living on the street; people who are living in abandoned houses; people who are living in ungutted houses; people who are living in conditions that no human being should have to live in. "When you see babies having to live in those conditions, it makes your heart break," she said. Kegel called Qatar's gift an "extraordinary boost" to the funding local agencies receive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "Clearly the magnitude of this housing disaster is so great that we . . . are so grateful that people around the world want to help," she said. The agencies that will receive funds through Qatar's most recent gift are: -- Catholic Charities shelters for battered women and people with disabilities. -- The Volunteers of America single-room occupancy facility on Tulane Avenue for people with disabilities. -- The National Council of Negro Women's Liberty House in Central City for young mothers. -- The McCaleb Foundation's shelter for people with disabilities. -- Christian Community Concern's transitional housing facility. -- The New Orleans Mission's emergency shelter.