Housing Authority opens doors to Katrina evacuees

DUDLEY BROWN, Staff Writer
Published September 17, 2005

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Photo: GERRY PATE
Helen Dawson sits in her new apartment at Archibald Rutledge Apartments. Helen left Mississippi before hurricane Katrina hit and has been in several shelters before coming to Spartanburg.
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Helen Dawson asked if she could hang pictures at her one-bedroom apartment at Archibald Rutledge.

She said the walls of her apartment in Biloxi, Miss., were covered with pictures, but she doesn't know if she'll ever see them or her 5-year-old cat, Baby, ever again.

"They say the water went up to the eighth floor," said Dawson, of the 13-story public housing complex that she lived in.

Dawson moved into Archibald Rutledge Friday afternoon and learned about some of the activities and options provided by the Spartanburg Housing authority.

"Compared to what I had, this is heaven," said Dawson, who stayed in three shelters after leaving her apartment.

Dawson, 72, said she went eight days without her family knowing where she was until they found out that she was at a middle school in Fairhope, Ala.

"I was scared to death," she said. "They didn't know where I was and I didn't want to move."

Her sister, Laraine

LeBarron, and brother-in-law, Richard LaBarron, are from Spartanburg and they made the eight-hour drive to Fairhope, Ala., to pick her up.

"I cried like a baby," Dawson said. "… I wasn't going to let them out of my sight and they weren't going to let me out of their sight."

She spent the past week in Spartanburg staying with the LeBarrons and their two kids and three cats before getting her apartment at Archibald Rutledge.

She's visited Spartanburg before and plans to make it home now.

"I know the people are very helpful and nice," Dawson said.

She was impressed with how her apartment was furnished with a bed, television, loveseat, dining room table and dishes.

"I'm thrilled," she said. "I can't believe it. There's dishes and everything."

She lived on the fourth floor of her building in Biloxi. She lost her favorite blanket at one shelter and a bag with her identification and credit cards was also left behind at a shelter. The only identification that she's carrying now is a bracelet on her right wrist with her name written on it. It came from one of the shelters.

She said more than 100 people were probably at the shelters in Biloxi that she stayed at and she was one of five people in Fairhope, which had home-cooked meals from people in the community.

She has four daughters, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Raymond Davis, director of housing and resident development for the housing authority, said three families are expected to move into housing authority units by early next week. He said more families could come in the next two to three months when their stays at temporary locations come to an end.

"We're just fortunate to be in a position to provide housing for anyone who needs it," Davis said.

Dudley Brown can be reached at 562-7426 or dudley.brown@shj.com.

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