More help coming to UNM's storm victims

by Katy Knapp

Daily Lobo

Michael Perea said he could really use some extra money.

"I'm completely broke," he said. "It's been tough having to buy everything again."

Perea, from Tulane University in New Orleans, is one of 47 students displaced by Hurricane Katrina attending UNM.

The UNM Foundation has established a Hurricane Katrina Student Assistance Fund for students who need extra help with living expenses. The University is covering tuition, fees, books and housing for students from the Gulf Coast who can't return to their universities this semester.

Alex Gonzalez, financial aid manager in the Scholarship Office, said the University has spent more than $200,000 from UNM's budget, as well as state and federal funding to cover the costs.

Gonzalez said he decided to approach the foundation with the idea of an assistance fund about a week ago.

"We started to receive phone calls from individuals in the community who were interested in contributing to their education," he said.

The fund was established Sept. 23.

Perea, a senior majoring in criminal anthropology, said he didn't know about the fund before Wednesday but is going to take advantage of it.

He needs to pay $100 to a storage company in New Orleans, where half of his belongings are, by Friday.

"I can't pay them," he said. "And if I don't, they are going to take possession of all my stuff and auction it off."

Those items include his photo albums, diplomas and yearbooks.

"I don't know how much money they'd get from my yearbooks," he said, smiling.

The fund works like a regular scholarship, Gonzalez said. He said students displaced by the hurricane should come in after Friday, when the fund application is finalized.

"It will ask students what their specific need is for the scholarship," Gonzalez said. "Since the University is picking up most of their expenses, we want to see any type of assistance they need that is unmet."

Amanda Harris, who was attending Mississippi State University, said UNM is only covering her tuition, fees and books, because she has family she is staying with in Albuquerque.

"I probably wouldn't apply for it," she said about the fund. "I have a lot of people here helping me. But I do think that's a great idea, because there are people who do need that help."

Carolyn White, manager of donor relations in the Development Office, said people interested in donating can make it as specific or as broad as they want.

"They can donate by the program or department in which the student is enrolled," she said. She also said the University is looking into making it a blanket fund that would eventually include students displaced by other natural disasters.

Monique Fellows, who arrived at UNM two weeks ago from the University of New Orleans, said she intends to apply for the scholarship as soon as she can.

Even though she received $300 from the American Red Cross, that money is almost gone, she said.

"I really need clothes," Fellows said. "I only have the clothes I packed to evacuate."

Neither White nor Gonzalez knew how much money has been collected since the fund began last week, but White said she didn't think they have raised very much because a lot of people do not know it exists.

Gonzales said there is no fund-raising goal.

"We haven't really thought about that," he said. "Just as much as people are willing to donate. These students need all the help they can get."

Perea said it has been difficult getting assistance from other organizations since the hurricane. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site has been difficult to navigate.

"Getting help from FEMA is like pulling teeth," Perea said. "Some people get help, and some people don't. It's really confusing."