A long road

There is almost no overstating the distance left to cover in restoring the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, ravaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, according to Karen Lash '87. The former USC Law associate dean spoke to dozens of law students Feb. 1 during a lunchtime talk sponsored by the Legal Aid Alternative Breaks project, the Review of Law and Social Justice, and the Office of Public Service.

Karen Lash '87 speaks to students

“It is really difficult to describe the enormity of the desperation; every aspect of living has changed, and that’s true across the board, for every income level,” said Lash, a consultant with the Mississippi Center for Justice. “In the 17 months since the hurricane hit, Mississippi has been all but invisible, as the spotlight is on New Orleans.”

Lash first visited the region 13 days after the hurricane struck.

“The mood in those first few months was really striking,” Lash said. “There was this enormous amount of gratitude: gratitude to be alive, gratitude when you found out what happened to a neighbor, gratitude when you heard the church was going to be OK.”

There was also hope that with the assistance of insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, communities would soon be rebuilt, she said.

Instead, as 92,000 still reside in trailers, the nation’s poorest state waits with uncertainty.

Part of the problem with rebuilding stem from forces in place before the hurricane, which kept Mississippi at the “bottom of every good list and the top of every bad list,” Lash said.

“Housing, housing and housing” are the key issues affecting the Mississippi coast today, Lash said, and is where the Mississippi Center for Justice is focusing its efforts.

One upside to the story is that members of the legal profession – including law students – are heeding the call for help.

“I have never seen anything like this,” Lash said. “This is the largest influx of law students into the South since the '60s. It is really revitalizing the social justice spirit and has been so exciting to watch.”

Students from USC Law will join thousands of law students from across the country during the spring and summer breaks to volunteer in Mississippi and Louisiana. Coordinated by the Student Hurricane Network, USC Law’s Legal Aid Alternative Breaks project participants will be working with the Mississippi Center for Justice and other groups to offer assistance.

Through the Center, students conduct surveys to determine what needs exist and whether those are being met; participate in legal clinics, doing intakes or researching; and conduct surveys and other services for FEMA.

The needs are always changing, Lash said, but the needs are still there.

For more information on the Legal Aid Alternative Breaks project, click here.