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A second round of Hurricane Ida hazard mitigation funding from the state will more than double the St. Mary Parish government’s share of the money for “ongoing recovery and mitigation projects,” according to the Governor’s Office.

In all, 25 parishes will share $253 million, the office said.

St. Mary was notified earlier this year that the parish government would receive $1.6 million through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

On Tuesday, the Governor’s said St. Mary’s share is now just short of $3.9 million after the second-round funding of about $2.3 million.

Last month, the St. Mary Parish Council talked about three projects to be funded with $1.6 million awarded by then, said Chief Administrative Office Henry C. “Bo” LaGrange:

--A storm-resistant safe room at the Yokely Pump Station.

--A safe room at the Franklin Canal Flood Gate Pump State.

--Wind-proofing at the old National Guard armory in Franklin, where the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security now stores equipment and
supplies.

“We’ll probably review our hazard mitigation plan and see if there are any other projects that will qualify for funding,” LaGrange said. Drainage improvements are one possibility.

“Hurricane Ida devastated our people and our coast nearly one year ago,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in the press release, “and while the recovery process is often long and complicated, we will use these funds to not only further the restoration efforts still underway but also on projects designed to minimize the impacts of future storms.”

Through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, the federal cost share increased from 75% to 90% with a 10% match from local governments.

Edwards has directed the Office of Community Development to provide funding to fully pay that local match requirement in its request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for disaster recovery assistance. In addition, the state has contracted for technical assistance to local governments to expedite project development, approval and completion.

Working with local partners, the goal is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property by lessening the impact of a disaster. Examples of mitigation work include residential elevation, reconstruction or acquisition of flood-prone structures and converting land to green space, localized drainage improvements, safe room con-struction, wind retrofit of structures and emergency power for critical facilities, the Governor’s Office said.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12182 will honor veterans wounded in combat with a Purple Heart ceremony at 4 p.m. Sunday on the Berwick riverfront.

The public is invited, and those with a Purple Heart family member may bring a photo of their veteran to be honored. This is a remembrance is for living and deceased Purple Heart recipients.

To place someone's name on list, leave a message at 337-578-0565 and someone will get back to you. If possible, provide the branch of service and conflict the veteran was in.

Living almost seven decades without any information about her birth, Rebecca Browning never thought she would learn more about where she came from.

Now, thanks to a bill passed during the 2022 legislative session, Browning is able to access a key to her past.

House Bill 450, now Act No. 470, took effect Monday, and it allows adopted persons 24 years of age or older to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate.

Browning was adopted at 6 months old from Catholic Charities in New Orleans.

She grew up in Baton Rouge and remembers a fairytale kind of life spent playing in the front yard with her sister, dancing with her parents in the living room and roasting marshmallows in the fireplace.

As much as Browning adored her adoptive parents and her life, she is excited to know more about portions of her life left unanswered.

“I think that everybody has the God-given right to know where their journey began,” Browning said. Referring to her birth parents, she added, “I would love to know their names, and I would love to know what my name was and exactly where I was born.”

Before 1977, an adoptee could obtain his or her original birth certificate in Louisiana without any hindrance. But lawmakers concerned about birth parents’ privacy passed a law then sealing an adopted person’s original birth certificate after a final decree of adoption and stating that it could be opened only by court order.
Act No. 470 creates a simplified process, allowing an adopted person to request a copy of his or her original birth certificate from vital records without the costly burden of going to court.

The law also allows the relinquishing parents to file a contact preference form, included in an adoptee’s request for their original birth certificate, specifying whether they want to be contacted.

Several bills mirroring House Bill 450 were brought before the Legislature in the past but failed to become law.

The new law, authored by Rep. Charles Owen, R-Fort Polk, received a majority of votes in both chambers and survived hours-long debates in committee hearings.

Some lawmakers voiced concerns that the bill did not respect the privacy of birth parents and opened the door for unwanted reunions.

Getting the bill through the Legislature was a task that Elise Lewis, a lead advocate with the Louisiana Coalition for Adoption Reform, described as a marathon.

“It’s not like we walked in going, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a piece of cake,’” Lewis said.

“We worked really hard and spent many hours talking to legislators and answering legislators’ questions.”

Jeanette Livingston, chair of the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board, worked alongside Lewis in advocating for the bill.

Livingston, sharing her view as a mother who relinquished rights to her child, emphasized that the bill was about adult adoptees who deserved to learn more about themselves and not about the birth parents.

“I just really think that they needed to hear our point of view,” Livingston said. “It should be a personal choice for the adoptee.”

Lewis, who was adopted herself, believes the new law solves a huge inequality for adoptees trying to access something as simple as a birth certificate.

“For me, just having that birth certificate, seeing all the information on it, it’s the truth,” Lewis said.

“It’s your truth. It’s your beginning. I think everyone is entitled to the truth of their origins, plain and simple.”

While someone’s place of birth and birth name may seem like basic information, it is an invaluable piece of knowledge to adoptees like Browning.

Browning described growing up wondering where she was born and what traits she inherited from her birth parents.

“When you’re adopted, you’re like, ‘Where did I come from, you know, and sometimes you think who do I look like,” Browning said.

Lewis, who works as a genealogist, knows firsthand how interested people are in learning where they came from and if they descended from pioneers or royalty, for example.

“If a non-adopted person finds it super important to know those things, it is even more so for an adopted person because they know nothing,” Lewis said.

“So having the ability to access the document that records our birth, that has our truths on it, is mind-boggling.”
Louisiana is the 11th state to pass a law restoring adoptees’ rights to access their original birth certificates, and Lewis hopes that the state will set an example for its neighbors to follow.

“This is a chance for Louisiana to shine,” Lewis said.

“We’re hoping that Mississippi and Texas will look and say, ‘Wow, look what Louisiana did, that’s awesome.’ Let’s treat adopted people equally.”

Eager to fill in the blanks of her past, Browning already sent a request for her birth certificate and is elated to know other adopted people can have a complete understanding of who they are.

“When I was filling out the paperwork a week ago to send to vital records, I cried,” Browning said.

“There were just so many emotions that this was going to happen, and that we would feel like we came from someone, and we would know who they were, and it’s been very exciting.”

Morgan City Open Fishing Rodeo contestants landed their fish in June. On Tuesday, local and regional institutions and nonprofits landed $31,500 in donations from rodeo proceeds.

Checks were presented Tuesday at the South Louisiana Community College’s Young Memorial Campus.

The breakdown:

—$13,500 went to SLCC for scholarships

—$13,500 went to Nicholls State’s Petroleum Engineering and Safety Technology program for scholarships

—$1,500 went to the Atchafalaya Golf Association

—$1,200 went to the Boy Scouts of America

—$1,000 went to the Morgan City Police Benevolent Fund

—$500 went to ARC of St. Mary

—$500 went to a St. Mary Chamber fund

—$500 went to the Nicklaus Bolner Foundation

Campus Director Tammie L. Moore said the money headed for SLCC will go for scholarships, divided equally among applicants seeking academic degrees and those in noncredit work-related training pursuits. The size of the scholarships will depend on how many students apply.

Both part-time and full-time students are eligible to apply, and they must have a 2.5 GPA or greater.

Past recipients have majored in general studies, practical nursing, business and more.

MCOFR has given more than $40,000 in scholarships to SLCC students in Morgan City since 2017.

“MCOFR has been an incredible partner to SLCC and our Morgan City campus for years,” said Lana Fontenot, vice chancellor for institutional advancement. “Scholarships are often the determining factor for students who are in need of financial resources to attend college. MCOFR is changing the lives of our students, and we cannot be more grateful for their support.”

“The students are usually super-excited,” Moore said Tuesday. “It helps with transportation, books, just the costs that they have.”

“That’s by far the largest donation we’ve been able to give to the school,” said Sammy Cannata of the fishing rodeo organization.

According to material from the Boy Scouts, “Scouts of BSA emphasizes outdoor experience and community service. It provides opportunities for leadership development.

“We have an appreciation for our environment. Scouting promotes a life exemplifying the Scout Oath and Law. Troop 49 instills these values to our youth.”

The MCOFR donation will go to awards and advancement to Scouts, the troop said. “It will also help to update our equipment used for camping and volunteering needs.”

ARC of St. Mary is putting the money toward recreational equipment for its clients, said Director Kristal Hebert.

ARC of St. Mary in Centerville trains and employs people with physical and developmental disabilities. Among the facility’s services is Day Habilitation, designed to help clients become “independent in day-to-day, non-vocational, personal skills. …

“They go in the community, and they DANCE to celebrate the day!” according to information from ARC.

ARC of St. Mary continues to try to raise money for a van to take clients to and from janitorial jobs.

The Chamber check will go into a fund in honor of Donna Meyer, the long-time Chamber president who died in October.

The Morgan City Police Benevolent Fund “helps our law enforcement officers in any kind of need,” said Interim Police Chief Mark E. Griffin Jr.