ATLANTA — "Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up!" motivational speaker Keith L. Brown bellowed as he danced the electric slide with nearly 100 Katrina evacuees Wednesday at a downtown job center. "Aw, come on, y'all. Wave your hands in the air if you know you care. Let me hear you say: "I'm working! I'm working! I'm working!"
Most of the Katrina evacuees were not working, but they seemed happy enough to step, then spin and clap their hands with Brown.
Nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina forced Gulf Coast residents to flee their homes, Atlanta officials hosted an "Empowerment Party" to motivate those in their city struggling to find jobs, many of whom are suffering from deepening mental health problems.
Part revival meeting, part therapy session, part job fair, the event was organized by the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency to help Katrina evacuees assimilate into the city.
It came on the same day that, back in Louisiana, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin opened a "Welcome Home Center" in an effort to entice more displaced citizens to return.
The evacuees at the party in Atlanta -- who were almost all from New Orleans -- prayed, sang, ate fried chicken and black-eyed peas, and won raffle prizes for Braves baseball games.
"We're saying, 'OK, you're a Georgian now,' " said conference organizer Jennifer Moore. "You've been here for a year now. A terrible thing happened, but let's move forward. Where are you going to be in a year?"
After watching an Atlanta promotional video, which declares "Every Day is an Opening Day" and extols Atlanta tourist attractions, evacuees listened to experts talk about job training, starting new businesses, applying for Habitat for Humanity homes and signing up for free mini spa days.
Wayne Mack, coordinator of reintegration counselors for the Georgia Department of Labor, urged Katrina evacuees to take advantage of computer classes, typing tests and free schooling.
"The Atlanta market is a competitive market," he said to shouts of "Amen" from the audience.
"I'm in it to win it," said Sadie Davis, 48, a part-time clerk who had come to the event in the hope of finding a permanent position and healthcare information. She ended up winning two tickets for "The Life Story of Marvin Gaye" at Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center.
For many, the highlight of the Empowerment Party was keynote speaker Brown, who calls himself "Motivator of the Millennium."
