S. Mississippi groups advocate for elderly and disabled Katrina victims

Dean Stevenson, who lives on a $910 a month medical pension from themilitary, rented a Biloxi apartment before Hurricane Katrina for $380 amonth.  Today the 60-year-old lives in a FEMA trailer with no prospect for an apartment he can afford at post-Katrina rates.  Coastadvocates for the elderly and disabled held a news conference Thursdayto shed light on the plight of those on fixed incomes, thousands ofwhom are stuck in FEMA trailers with no hope in sight.  “Housingcontinues to be an issue and will continue to be because there isnothing available now,” said Talatha Denison of the nonprofitMississippi Protection and Advocacy Program.  The groups say only25 percent of $5.4 billion the federal government allotted for recoveryin Mississippi is being spent on low-income residents. The number ofrental units planned for residents on limited incomes falls woefullyshort of the 13,800 FEMA estimates were destroyed by Katrina.

Source/more:  Gulfport Sun-Herald, http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/172933.html