06:45 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 11, 2005

WWLTV.com

Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition brought about 200 people to town Tuesday to find jobs reconstructing New Orleans, but most of those talked to by Eyewitness News were not displaced residents.

Associated Press

Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, applauds as James Williams, from River Ridges, La., hugs his mother, New Orleans resident Audrey Coestly in Jefferson Parish, La., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005. Jackson and Williams arrived with about 200 job seekers.

Jackson organized the bus tour, which began in Chicago Monday, as an attempt to bring displaced residents back to participate in the rebuilding of the city. When pressed as to how many of the job seekers were from the New Orleans area, Jackson said he didn’t know.

“I thought it would be more New Orleanians,” said Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt, who nevertheless welcomed those looking for work. “Since we have jobs available and since people are looking for an opportunity, we welcome them.”

The bus arrived at the Piccadilly in Metairie around 2 p.m. and the workers were greeted with a hot meal and people waiting to take job applications. Eyewitness News talked to about half the room and said very few said they were from the city.

Woodrow and Shantall Alford were two of those who did live in New Orleans. They lost their Ninth Ward home in Katrina, said they were in New Orleans to find a place to live and a job.

“We’d like to get a home, that’s priority one,” said Shantall. “We have six children and need a place.”

“I see plenty of work in construction and I’m not afraid to sweep a broom or nail a roof,” said Woodrow.

Organizers said the group was headed to the Convention Center after the initial session to get tetanus and hepatitis shots and find a place to stay.