Utah May House 1,000 Hurricane Refugees

Utah May House 1,000 Hurricane Refugees
Utah Ready to Accept Up to 1,000 Hurricane Refugees, Governor Says
By DEBBIE HUMMEL Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY Aug 31, 2005 — Utah is ready to accept up to 1,000 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Jon Huntsman said Wednesday. The state of Louisiana asked for help housing the refugees, he said.

"We did a quick calculation as to what we could accommodate immediately and we came up with 1,000," Huntsman said. "I'm glad Utah is seen as a community that will reach out charitably."

The displaced residents would likely stay in housing at the Army National Guard's Camp Williams in Draper or at an overflow shelter in Midvale, both Salt Lake City suburbs.

The state can provide such basic services as shelter, food, clothing and schooling for children.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1085464

yikes.

of Utah. But I guess it's a nice symbolic gesture. More states should do the same.

Utah is a beautiful state, and visiting long term might be really cool if there isn't too much religious pressure.

the true believing mormons won't come within 100 yards of any of those poor southern blacks. Not a chance.

I bet ya' if it were California no one here would be making jokes about the general population, right?

Oh, but it's conservative Utah! GOD NO! Not those damn Mormons.

They hate blacks!

They're racist!

Man, sometimes I wonder how so many people can claim they're open-minded, yet have their mind closed on so many subjects. I'm a Utahn, and know some very compassionate Mormons.

I bet you also didn't know that the Catholic Diocese here in Salt Lake brings thousands of Somalian war refugees to Salt Lake every year to live here because the city is very accepting and hate-free.

Disaster brings out the best in some people, and, unfortunately, the worst in others.

non-whites in Utah (on the part of the conservative mormon element). I am also aware that SLC is much more cosmopolitan than the rest of the state.

My post referred specifically to the attitudes of the radical racist fundie mormons, who are more common than Utah likes to admit. i said nothing about catholics.

Catholics bring Somalians here because they're so welcomed by the entire population. I don't know when you last lived in Utah, but hate really isn't apart of our culture. I think it's crap that you'd shit on an entire state because of a "few" bigots. In the end, Salt Lake and Utah is quickly changing as a state. Its population numbers show that there is a large Hispanic community growing here and I don't believe they're hated against because they're non-white.

Are there racists? Sure. But you'll find them in EVERY state. Utah, as a whole, is pretty accepting to people of other colors. Was it always like that? Not really, but it HAS changed.

These cheap shots aren't cool.

the Mormon Church gives to help those who need it. Rip on Mormons for their conservative views, but please pause before saying Mormons are racist or they don't care about others. Their "welfare" system is truly extraordinary and helps millions of people a year.

I can't believe how many anti-Mormon comments I see on DU.

I've had many positive experiences with Utahns in general and Mormons in particular. Overall, its a very friendly, helpful state in my view.

and I have a daughter who is half-black, so WATCH the remarks made about Mormons. More non-American Mormons than there are American Mormons.

the skiing will be much better.

Hey, as long as they're there, why not?

to Congress and erroneously assumed some things hadd never changed. I also had based my comment on what my sister had said about having a hard time finding a restaurant to serve her caffeinated drinks or a beer when she visited about five years ago.

Hatred? No. Rascism? Where?

But I can tell you it's not difficult at all getting caffeinated drinks or beer in Salt Lake City.

Maybe Provo, but that's 40 or so miles south of here.

Don't forget that Salt Lake City's mayor is a Democrat. And every elected official representing Salt Lake City in the Utah House/Senate ARE Democrats. Not ONE Republican.

We need to help people spread out to a level where communities can accomodate them. You can't just dump 30,000 people into one community and expect it to function well. People need to start volunteering to host people in their extra space, or make extra space to host where possible. I'd do it. You?

<http://neworleans.craigslist.org/com/>

I'm going to put a list together of stuff I can give/offer.

...and he said yes.

I would be interested in finding out more about this. Definitely.

We would consider hosting a family.

Let's make it proportional. Utah has about 0.5% of the US population. If every state made the same contribution, we could house 1.5 MILLION refugees.

The Federal government is kaput. Our states will have to do this alone.

Sorry...couldn't help it.

good on Utah.

There are people who won't be able to live in New Orleans again. Many other states have space and people who would be willing to work in a Habitat for Humanity type project.

Or am I missing something?

That makes them refugees.

Not all refugees cross borders. Those just the ones that get most international attention because they're suddenly someone else's problem. So-called internal refugees are frequently a bigger problem in many instances. (The 'internal' part only serves to say they're not international, hence international agencies usually don't have them as high on their radar.)

Assistance provided by the Mormon Church from 1985-2004:

Cash Donations: $134.3 million
Value of Material Assistance: $601.2 million
Countries served: 159
Food Distributed: 47,410 tons
Medical Equipment Distributed: 6,670 tons
Surplus Clothing: 63,404 tons
Educational Supplies: 5,563 tons

Keep in mind this is what the Mormon Church is doing. The individual members are also contributing.

Mormons, for the most part are good people, who try to love their neighbors and help those who need help. Yes, there are those who might be racist or sexist, but there are people like that in every religion.

FYI: Salt Lake City has a huge gay population.

"The same researchers put Salt Lake City in the top 6 percent of cities where gay and lesbian couples were likely to live.

“Clearly, Salt Lake City has a high concentration,” Gates told The Associated Press.
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_161181301.html

I see you're in Idaho, do you get down to Salt Lake City much? I bet people would be surprised at how liberal SLC is.

I mean, just look at the Bush protest a couple weeks ago. 3,000+ people went.

I do go down to SLC every now and then. Yes, SLC is pretty liberal, for Utah. Aside from "temple square", SLC is pretty similar to most urban areas. Pocatello is actually pretty liberal, for Idaho. With the university here, we have a nice Dem population and can easily get Dems into political offices. I am hoping to either move to Seattle (where I am from) or SLC when I graduate next year!

Idaho is another state that gets a bad rep. I know a lot of people think it's filled with nothing but militia groups and racists, when Boise is a very vibrant city.

Seattle. I came to Idaho to attend BYU-Idaho for three years, then I transferred to Idaho State to finish up my Bachelor's and I am now in grad school here. I have not come across any militia groups or white supremacist groups. I know there are some close to the Utah border, and some up north closer to the Montana border, as well as the ones in Northern Idaho. There is a highly active NAACP group here, as well as a college NAACP, College Democrats, Idaho Progressive Student Alliance, college Amnesty International, etc...
Are you from SLC? Did you hear Dean speak in SLC back in July? He was awesome and a few thousand showed up, more than they expected!!!

I didn't see Dean speak as the Utes Spring Game was going on that same day (Ha!). But I've met him before when he came to Salt Lake during his campaign.

Boise and Idaho in general get dumped on a lot by those who have never been here. It usually takes only one visit for them to want to live here, though.

Shrub loving morons. Big deal, 1,000 people. With all the land and resources they have, it should be at least 10,000.

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Both of our comments removed. I guess we both need step back, and dial down the rhetoric.

Keep us posted!

In this time of inconceivable sadness and desperation, it is difficult for me to believe some of the cheap shots and attacks on Utah in this thread. So, to the people who felt the need to belittle Utah for flying 1000 suffering people here today . . . WHAT IS YOUR STATE DOING TO HELP THE HOMELESS, SICK AND DYING PEOPLE OF LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI AND ARKANSAS? WHAT?

TYY:grr:

:hug:

:hug:

TYY:cry:

Probably the only good thing the state of Utah has done in 5 years--except the protests in SLC.

a couple of million left to go!

most of which took the evacuation notices seriously. There are certainly thousands who did not evacuate, and are facing the consequences. But i'd jump off a bridge if it numbered in the millions.

...California taking? What about Massachusetts?

Can they provide employment too?