Where Most Needed

After days of back and forth discussions that sometimes turned angry, it looks like a group sponsored by Christian Contractors Association (EIN 57-0971160 Form 990) will soon resume demolition of homes in St. Bernard Parish, outside New Orleans.  The report in the New Orleans Times-Picayune said that the group had been demolishing homes for free, which they thought exempted them from the regulations that were slowing demolitions by the for-profit Unified Recovery Group, paid for by FEMA. 

Earlier in the week, there were discussions in the parish (county) council about the speed of demolition by the volunteer group.  There it came out that FEMA still had to pay for the removal of the debris, and they refused to do so until the volunteer group came up with a way to inventory and deal with hazardous household waste and white goods (refrigerators).  After it became clear that FEMA was not picking up debris left at the curb, the volunteers under group leader Robert McKee continued to tear down homes, but leaving the debris on the house slabs rather than pushing it to the curb. 

There is plenty of demolition work to go around, with over 4,000 homes on the list for demolition. 

While it appears that this confrontation has been resolved, it illustrates the difficulties presented by volunteer groups, which can be impatient with regulations that they perceive as getting in the way of their self-assigned mission.  It is also reflects a common attitude particularly with smaller charities that they should be exempt from regulations by reason of their charitable purpose.