Inslee takes hope to Houston

Published 11:00 am Saturday, September 10, 2005

Letters from islanders were delivered to the Astrodome.

The art of letter writing is alive, and helping to comfort hurricane victims who were relocated to Houston’s Astrodome.

Thanks to the efforts of Rep. Jay Inslee and his wife, Trudi, some 200 evacuees are holding hand-written letters from Bainbridge residents who wanted to send caring thoughts across the miles.

“Jay decided to go down to the Astrodome, on his own with our frequent flier miles, to have face-to-face conversations with people and learn about their experiences and challenges,” Trudi Inslee said. “He will vote on legislation that will affect their lives.”

Jay Inslee, a Bainbridge Democrat representing Wash­ington’s 1st District, delivered the letters in person on Monday.

“The gratitude on the faces of the people was incredible,” he said. “We threw them an emotional lifeline. They were so touched that even a stranger cared about them.”

Inslee wanted to take something to the evacuees to let them know people are thinking about them. His wife recalled a story she read several years ago about a woman who found solace in a compassionate letter in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Trudi thought this was something she and her husband could do, so she called Town & Country and asked to set up a table outside the market. She sent emails to friends telling them of her plan.

Last Sunday – with card table, chairs, paper, pens and markers – the Inslees set up shop.

“Our first taker was a 4-year-old who drew hearts on her paper,” Trudi said.

Bainbridge residents were responsive to the endeavor. Some wrote five words, others spent 10 minutes composing a message.

Each writer addressed his or her envelope. “From one parent to another,” one said; “From a 14-year-old guy,” read another. One person wrote, “Please give this to a senior citizen.”

Also on Sunday, the Bainbridge Island Racquet Club put out a similar table for letter-writers, as did Eagle Harbor Congregational Church. Those letters were combined with the ones from T&C, and letters were left in a basket on the Inslees’ porch.

The Inslees hoped the letters would be “of great comfort to people.” They were.

“They just lit up,” he said. “It was remarkable. They would be rereading these letters, it was so touching and inspirational.”

Inslee called the people he met in Houston “resilient, gracious and appreciative.” He expressed his gratitude to his neighbors on Bainbridge.

“They really helped connect with some Americans. They would be swollen with happiness to know how grateful these folks are and it would make them feel good,” he said.

At the same time, Inslee said he is “outraged” at how slowly the federal government has been moving to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

One poignant example plays on his mind. At the Astrodome, where some 5,000 displaced Louisiana residents now wait, he met a family who had evacuated New Orleans by boat.

Because there wasn’t enough room for everyone, the grandmother stayed behind. Someone was supposed to go back and get her, but no one did.

Even though authorities had her name and address, she was stranded for days before being rescued.

“She is 80-years-old at a specific address, and no one rescued her at her home. Not even with the help of a representative,” he said. “It’s just inexcusable.”

And, he added, people can’t stay in temporary housing forever.

“Not everyone is handling this (situation) with aplomb,” Inslee said. “There were 10 evacuees on my plane back to Washington. One young man took out a razor and slit his wrist. We had to go to Nashville to get medical help.”

“Many of us think there needs to be new leadership at FEMA (that) won’t ignore known risks…such as the failure of the levees.

“In the last several years, (FEMA) has become a backwater for political cronies,” he said. “Under Homeland Security, it forgot about natural disasters. Out of the 460 meetings this year, only two of them were about natural disasters.”