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Prosperity's door opens for returnee

BY J. JIONI PALMER | STAFF CORRESPONDENT

February 24, 2006

NEW ORLEANS - Returning home has been bitter and sweet for Calvin Edwards.

Many of his friends and family remain dispersed around the country and much of the city that he loves is still in ruins, but at the same time the task of rebuilding the Big Easy has provided him with great financial opportunity.

"I'm in a whole new bracket," Edwards, 44, said of his new job removing hazardous construction debris. Before Hurricane Katrina, Edwards was a front doorman at the Pontchartrain Hotel, earning about $600 every two weeks. Today, his take-home pay has tripled to $1,800.

"For me and my skill level, I think this is benefiting me to my top level," he said. "I'm saving a lot of money. This is a great opportunity for me. My life is better than what it was."

After Katrina hit, Edwards and five other men residing in a two-story yellow duplex on Cortez Street were in no rush to leave, even with floodwaters lapping at the home's porch. For more than a week, the house, which was initially home to Edwards and his brother, served as a refuge for the remaining denizens in their corner of Mid-City.

They told jokes, drank beer, cooked pork chops and red beans and rice, but in the end a mandatory evacuation order emptied the city. "We were the last ones to leave New Orleans," he said Wednesday, recalling his final days there with his buddies Albert Martin, James Brown, Daniel Mirende and Dewayne Henderson.

Rescued from their home in a Coast Guard boat, he said they were taken to an airfield and put on a plane with about 130 other evacuees. They weren't informed of their final destination until they were in the air, he said, adding, "That's when I found out we was going to Greenville, South Carolina."

For about a month, he lived at the Palmetto Expo Center until that shelter was closed to make way for previously scheduled events. Then he moved to a nearby Sleep Inn hotel.

Edwards said he survived on a $25 Wal-Mart gift card given to him by the Red Cross, but mostly he got by on the generosity of local church folk.

Determined to make his way back to New Orleans, he first traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, where he stayed in a FEMA-funded hotel for several weeks. When he finally made his way back, Edwards resumed his job at the Pontchartrain. But after about two weeks he found better employment.

He signed on with EE&G Management Services LLC, a Miami Lakes, Fla.-based company that is helping with environmental cleanup and restoration work in the city and works six, sometimes seven days a week.

Edwards said he hears from his friends on Cortez Street from time to time. Three are still in South Carolina, while the fourth is living with relatives in Las Vegas. "They're talking about making the move back, but they haven't made it yet," he said. "I don't know what they are waiting for."