Cooper pointed out this story by David Greene on NPR yesterday.
Ethel Williams lost her home on Pauline Street in the New Orleans' Upper Ninth Ward during Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, President Bush visited Williams and promised that the federal government would help her rebuild.
We spoke with Williams last year, when she was angry at the federal government — but not at President Bush. She called the president a friend, saying she was convinced he would keep his word.
But Williams still has not had her house rebuilt. Her house, gutted and empty, is in danger of being condemned by the city. She now lives at her daughter's home across the river.
Here's a picture of Ethel Williams last April when President Bush visited her.
From the story last year,
"She's confident that President Bush will make sure things work out: 'You can't get me to say he won't, because he will. Watch.'"
More from yesterday's story:
Ten months ago, President Bush stood on Williams' yard, promising help from the federal government. When he came back again in August, he invited Williams and her daughter, Wanda, to sit with him at a church service.
But her mother isn't angry at the president — despite her woes, and the president's omission of the Gulf Coast from his State of the Union speech last month.
"Nope, I'm not angry with him at all," she says. Asked why not, her answer is simple: "Well, one reason why I'm not angry is because I didn't look him up. He found me. This wasn't something I asked for, and [am] not getting."
The president is scheduled to return to New Orleans next week, his first visit to the city in six months. The White House said it couldn't release details yet, and Williams said nobody from Washington has contacted her.Here's the picture of her now, standing in front of her unliveable house.

Can it really be that the only action this country can take to help and support Ethel are photo ops? We are the wealthiest and strongest and most innovative nation on the planet and we can't bother to take care of our own. As a mother, thinking of Ethel as another mother who wants to get her life and home back, it breaks my heart.
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