H-Town Man Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Why ask why? What have you done directly to contribute? Just give Oprah props for what she did and is doing and stop the freakin complaining. I don't think H2B was complaining. He thought Oprah was paying $150k per house, and made the point that there were probably better ways she could have helped residents with that money. It's water-cooler discussion. No one's issuing a public statement, or saying anything to Oprah's face. Just having a discussion on the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Oprah buys houses in Inwood & Sharpstown for Katrina evacuess = BORING.Oprah builds houses for Katrina evacuees = RATINGS.Common sense people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I think these people are better off with new houses.Like they need some fixer-uper dump. They have enough problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmainguy Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Like they need some fixer-uper dump. ...in a crack thug neihborhood like Inwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 where is Inwood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmainguy Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 where is Inwood? North of Little York on Antoine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Inwood: the neighborhood that could - until Acre Homes came along.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmainguy Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Inwood: the neighborhood that could - until Acre Homes came along.. Acres Homes was there first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west20th Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Oprah buys houses in Inwood & Sharpstown for Katrina evacuess = BORING.Oprah builds houses for Katrina evacuees = RATINGS.Common sense people.Whatever her reasons. The housing is needed and certainly welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUCAJUN Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 You can kiss my butt, Houcajun. You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmainguy Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I'm not trying to start anything with you at all. All i'm trying to do is challenge your ideas and make you step back and think for a second. It's disturbing for me when i hear about people doing good for someone or the community and certain people have to find something somewhere to criticize.By the way, i don't slither from under rocks. I'm like a mountain lion who sits on a rock watching and waiting for my next move. Like Bill O'Reilly. You can always count on him to take a beautiful thing and make it ugly. Has he attacked Oprah on this yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonsemipro Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 Do y'all think these people will go back home when New Orleans get's back on it's feet? What will happen to the houses? Will the subdivison still be called, "Angel Lane?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ V Lawrence Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Do y'all think these people will go back home when New Orleans get's back on it's feet? What will happen to the houses? Will the subdivison still be called, "Angel Lane?"As t if I think they'd want to move back once New Orleans gets back on it's feet, I seriously doubt it. There's too many reason why they probably wouldn't want to go back.If they were to move back to their neighborhoods...1) They'd probably have to spend their OWN money to rebuild the houses. Most families with their houses destroyed didn't have any or enough insurance. So for that, they'd have to find jobs first. Finding a job to pay for rebuilding their houses without enough government help would probably result in serious financial debt.2) The Houston local government gave them the Astrodome, many volunteers, other working facilities. New Orleans gave them the N.O. Convention Center and Superdome, with no plan B for getting the lower income residents out of the disaster area before OR after the storm until after Houston volunteered.3) Some of New Orleans' city council residents are denouncing charity cases, telling the world that they only want the residents back that have money in their pockets (another thread)4) The Angel Lane homes were partially built by some of the same people living there. Sentimental value. Plus, with the amenities they have, it's doubtful they'll find housing similar to that in New Orleans. Most important point is the fact that in New Orleans, they have to start their lives from scratch. In Houston, they have a head start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel_lane Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Angel Lane--the truth! Okay, people keep asking and assuming. Everyone says that Oprah GAVE us homes. ...LOL that's news to me. Let me clear up the fiction. Ms. Winfrey did not GIVE us any homes. WE HAD TO QUALIFY for the homes. We had to fill out extensive paperwork, be employed, provide tax records, and vital statistic records. We had to pay closing costs, yes, I said PAY closing costs and until the mortgage (YES, I SAID MORTGAGE), was closed we had to provide pay stubs every time we got paid. Additionally, we had to actually work on the homes, roofing, planting, hammering, and cleaning up trash. So let's get the fiction straightened out with truth. We worked for it, we paid for it, and we continue to pay a house note every month like so many other hardworking citizens. You can't get something for nothing--it does not work that way. We all had to pay utility deposits just like everyone else does again we are productive people who just got a little help in a catastrophic situation. It is hard work--no complaints just fact. Truthfully, most of us will be very glad when the hype actually goes away and we can return to the anonymity of routine. Though we have been blessed it is extremely hard to embrace "normal" again when the people and places that you are used to seeing every day are no longer around or no longer exist. It is hard to get up in the morning and not feel just a little bit guilty about the fact that there are folks still living in gutted homes with blue-tarped roofs in New Orleans and Mississippi towns that seem to be forgotten by the media. It is tiring to have well-meaning people introduce you to others as someone who is from New Orleans and "just getting" his or her life back together. No kidding, I have actually had educated people introduce me to their friends as an evacuee, never mind the fact that I actually have a first and last name. It is like--gee, look we have our very own evacuee. For a moment there, it seemed as though we were fashionable, i.e. to know an evacuee was a cool thing. At least until people started thinking that we only wanted a free ride. Granted there are some that do subscribe to that mentality, but the rest of us, the vast majority of us--just want a place to sleep at and routine job to go to every day.Dullness is a blessing!Do y'all think these people will go back home when New Orleans get's back on it's feet? What will happen to the houses? Will the subdivison still be called, "Angel Lane?"We pay property taxes here. This is home. New Orleans is a part of everyone, but my house payment is mailed in Texas not LA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Angel Lane--the truth! Okay, people keep asking and assuming. Everyone says that Oprah GAVE us homes. ...LOL that's news to me. Let me clear up the fiction. Ms. Winfrey did not GIVE us any homes. WE HAD TO QUALIFY for the homes. We had to fill out extensive paperwork, be employed, provide tax records, and vital statistic records. We had to pay closing costs, yes, I said PAY closing costs and until the mortgage (YES, I SAID MORTGAGE), was closed we had to provide pay stubs every time we got paid. Additionally, we had to actually work on the homes, roofing, planting, hammering, and cleaning up trash. So let's get the fiction straightened out with truth. We worked for it, we paid for it, and we continue to pay a house note every month like so many other hardworking citizens. You can't get something for nothing--it does not work that way. We all had to pay utility deposits just like everyone else does again we are productive people who just got a little help in a catastrophic situation. It is hard work--no complaints just fact. Truthfully, most of us will be very glad when the hype actually goes away and we can return to the anonymity of routine. Though we have been blessed it is extremely hard to embrace "normal" again when the people and places that you are used to seeing every day are no longer around or no longer exist. It is hard to get up in the morning and not feel just a little bit guilty about the fact that there are folks still living in gutted homes with blue-tarped roofs in New Orleans and Mississippi towns that seem to be forgotten by the media. It is tiring to have well-meaning people introduce you to others as someone who is from New Orleans and "just getting" his or her life back together. No kidding, I have actually had educated people introduce me to their friends as an evacuee, never mind the fact that I actually have a first and last name. It is like--gee, look we have our very own evacuee. For a moment there, it seemed as though we were fashionable, i.e. to know an evacuee was a cool thing. At least until people started thinking that we only wanted a free ride. Granted there are some that do subscribe to that mentality, but the rest of us, the vast majority of us--just want a place to sleep at and routine job to go to every day.Dullness is a blessing!We pay property taxes here. This is home. New Orleans is a part of everyone, but my house payment is mailed in Texas not LA.angel_lane, welcome to HAIF, and thank you for one of the best posts I've seen here in quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 I've been waay too sick to really contribute anything or to respond to anything over the last month but I had to respond to this one. Thank you for the indepth accounting of what actually was required (and is still required) for those who were blessed with home opportunities in Angel Lane. It is my hope that it works out as well as possible for you and your neighbors.Keep Louisiana in ya soul and celebrate Texas! Welcome to the forum and best hopes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarthaG Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Hizzy, I hope you are feeling better.angel, has there been any accounting provided as to what the $10mm that Oprah donated plus the $5mm donated by her viewers? Perhaps it was for the developing of the streets, but I'm just curious. \Again, thank you for providing some facts...and welcome to HAIF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Angel_Lane,I wish you all the best in your new home! May God Bless you and all our new neighbors in Houston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel_lane Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 From what we know, Oprah's donation was mainly for land and infrastructure development not just in TX but also LA and Mississippi. The other donations were for development of everything from planting trees to sheetrock. Habitat for Humanity is non-profit and they work with donations and volunteerism when building homes. The city of Houston provided some downpayment assistance for those that qualified --not all of us did. So not only did we perform 300 hours of sweat equity, but we also had to pay closing costs (yeah, like normal people). We cannot turn around and sell the homes for a set period of time, i.e. we must live in it. One thing you must understand that we had to do hours while working full time jobs which was not easy for most of us since most had jobs for a short period of time and new employers are not keen to new employees being gone. There are many single parents and it was very very tough for them to do this. Many people came close to dropping out because you are working on something that you don't actually own until the day that you close on it....in other words you could put hours in and end up losing it anyways. The media coverage is gloss. It does not tell the full story of what we have gone through, but understand that there are teachers, nurses, business managers, college educated and technical folks among us. Contrary to popular belief, we have all types of races in our community not just black. I think that most are grateful for the roof over our heads, but many of us were unaware of the social dynamics of the surrounding area in the new neighborhood as we had no say in where the houses were to be built. The neighborhood is older and a little rough--a lot of us did not live in areas like this so it was and still is something to get used to.We've already had one family get their front door kicked in. That's tough and scary to deal with when you are in a new environment and have children to worry about and all you want to do is begin to live a "normal" life again. The problem is that normal has a new definition and you gotta figure out what it means to you.P.S. Not everyone is the community is from LA, we have folks from Texas that lost homes in Hurricane Rita...Just clearing up another falsehood "reported" in the media.Angel Lane Community Infowww.home.earthlink.net/~angel.laneIf you want to know more about us and what is actually going on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark F. Barnes Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Angel, first off you make me proud to be an American by just your words alone. They ring true and rally make a person think, and in the same breath be thankful of what we have. My email is always open to anything you have to say, and your comments in this forum were a real breath of fresh air, to a very touchy subject, that has been so bastardized by the media, that it's hard to tell fact from fiction.Whether Oprah did this or that is inconsequential one way or another. I had some direct dealings with Rita. I had a large project going on in Vinton LA when Rita hit, I saw directly the devistation, and how it ruined some peoples lives. And before I go out and worry about what some private citizen did or didn't do to help the relief, power to them if they are helping out, whether it's one dollar or one million. If they did it for ratings or prestige, so be it, at least they were doing something.What twists my crank are the scammers. not just the ones that took FEMA debit cards, which were supposed to be used for necessities, were used for a week-long Caribbean vacation, or a $600 tab at a gentleman's club and or a visit to Hooters, which included a $200 bottle of champagne. But the contractors that were price gouging, doubling there rates just because they could, and the crooked ass FEMA employees that were taking kick backs and approving all the price gouging. I personally saw these trailerhouse transporters that normally would haul for 2.75 per mile charging 5.00 and up. They were slapping FEMA relief signs on their truck, which in turn made them exempt from having to buy the expensive permits that they normally have to get to haul a trailerhouse. Yet they were still charging double their normal rate. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Contractors gouging on roofing, repairs, etc. around the Vinton area it was terrible. Not to discount the individuals that scammed the taxpayer out of a billion dollars, but if FEMA would have performed even basic checks to safeguard taxpayers' money, the loss would have been a little more controlled. FEMA didn't even try to verify the identity of people who applied for aid by phone. One person applied for aid 13 times, using 13 bogus addresses, and received a total of $139,000. More than 2,000 people applied for aid from prison and received about $12 million. Any time you have to balance speed of assistance with accuracy, you're going to have problems, but FEMA really dropped the ball on this one. The debit cards were the biggest joke. There are the bureaucrats who ordered nearly half a billion dollars worth of mobile homes that are still empty, and renovations for a shelter at a former Alabama Army base that cost about $416,000 per evacuee. What started off as a disaster-relief program, but it turned into a cash cow, waste of funds range from excessive loads of ice to higher-than-necessary costs on the multibillion-dollar debris removal effort. Another biggy, $7.9 million spent to renovate the former Fort McClellan Army base in Anniston, Ala., included fixing up a welcome center, clinic and gymnasium, scrubbing away mold and installing a protective fence between the site and a nearby firing range. But when the doors finally opened, only about 10 people showed up each night, leading FEMA to shut down the shelter within one month. And mobile homes, costing $34,500 each, were supposed to provide temporary housing to hurricane victims. But after Louisiana officials balked at installing them inland, FEMA had no use for them. Nearly half, or about 10,000, of the $860 million worth of units now sit at an airfield in Arkansas, where FEMA is paying $250,000 a month to store them. They will probably end up being auctioned off @ pennies on the dollar at a federal sale. Someone got rich on the original sale, and someone got rich transporting them, and the public got screwed. The last audit I saw, came from the Government Accountability Office, which this month estimated that perhaps as much as 21 percent of the $6.3 billion given directly to victims might have been improperly distributed. I could go on and on, but the horse is down so I will quit beating him. If you see someone actually helping and making a difference, take time to thank them. Because there are a thousand out there doing nothing, for every one you find that actually does. Angel like I said before you are a breath of fresh air. Good luck to you, and you have my utmost respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicMan Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 So, is Angel Lane south of West Orem? What are the nearby existing streets? I cannot find it on maps because Angel Lane is a fairly new development.I'm trying to figure out which elementary school serves Angel Lane... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooh Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Hi , I was wondering how is everything going now in Angel Lane for you? I hope you are making it well. Is everyone still excited about their beautiful homes? They were so beautiful. Please respondAngel Lane--the truth! Okay, people keep asking and assuming. Everyone says that Oprah GAVE us homes. ...LOL that's news to me. Let me clear up the fiction. Ms. Winfrey did not GIVE us any homes. WE HAD TO QUALIFY for the homes. We had to fill out extensive paperwork, be employed, provide tax records, and vital statistic records. We had to pay closing costs, yes, I said PAY closing costs and until the mortgage (YES, I SAID MORTGAGE), was closed we had to provide pay stubs every time we got paid. Additionally, we had to actually work on the homes, roofing, planting, hammering, and cleaning up trash. So let's get the fiction straightened out with truth. We worked for it, we paid for it, and we continue to pay a house note every month like so many other hardworking citizens. You can't get something for nothing--it does not work that way. We all had to pay utility deposits just like everyone else does again we are productive people who just got a little help in a catastrophic situation. It is hard work--no complaints just fact. Truthfully, most of us will be very glad when the hype actually goes away and we can return to the anonymity of routine. Though we have been blessed it is extremely hard to embrace "normal" again when the people and places that you are used to seeing every day are no longer around or no longer exist. It is hard to get up in the morning and not feel just a little bit guilty about the fact that there are folks still living in gutted homes with blue-tarped roofs in New Orleans and Mississippi towns that seem to be forgotten by the media. It is tiring to have well-meaning people introduce you to others as someone who is from New Orleans and "just getting" his or her life back together. No kidding, I have actually had educated people introduce me to their friends as an evacuee, never mind the fact that I actually have a first and last name. It is like--gee, look we have our very own evacuee. For a moment there, it seemed as though we were fashionable, i.e. to know an evacuee was a cool thing. At least until people started thinking that we only wanted a free ride. Granted there are some that do subscribe to that mentality, but the rest of us, the vast majority of us--just want a place to sleep at and routine job to go to every day.Dullness is a blessing!We pay property taxes here. This is home. New Orleans is a part of everyone, but my house payment is mailed in Texas not LA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel_lane Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Hi , I was wondering how is everything going now in Angel Lane for you? I hope you are making it well. Is everyone still excited about their beautiful homes? They were so beautiful. Please respond Everyone seems to have settled in okay. If you want to know more about what is going on, you can always visit here: www.angel-lane.org The houses are great but we continue to have challenges with a lot of the bad media that we get. Sadly, even though we are a segment of survivors that are working, paying property taxes, and therefore positively contributing to the Houston economy we are still subjected to a lot of bias from some "original" Houstonians. Most of us have opted to not send our children to the public HISD schools and have enrolled our children in charter schools due to the issues that they were having with respect to Houston students. But the children seem to be adjusting better than the adults--lol..guess we always worry a bit too much. Thanks for the the interest--it is nice to know that some people do not view us as a burden on the local community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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