America can do better than this

While others areas of the South devastated by hurricanes have rebuilt homes and businesses, New Orleans continues to struggle. Despite a few high-profile projects to rebuild homes in some areas of the Crescent City, the fact remains that many other areas are little more than desolate wastelands.

The number of homeless persons in New Orleans has doubled to 12,000 since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many of them use a downtown underpass for shelter, and city officials would like to move them out. Mayor Ray Nagin has proposed moving the homeless to a motel-like shelter, but it will accommodate only 120 people.

Meanwhile, a couple of states to the north, an organization called Remote Area Medical is setting up weekend medical missions in Tennessee. A recent mission in Knoxville that attracted hundreds of destitute Tennesseans in need of basic medical care — including vision and dental — showed up. Some had to be turned away when the weekend was over. Another mission is planned for Oakdale, Tenn., later this month.

RAM was founded by Stan Brock. Through his worldwide travels, Brock has seen first-hand the desperate need for medical care, mostly in Third World countries. Now his missions are targeting areas of the U.S. as well.

RAM medical staffing is all volunteers. Medical supplies are donated. Hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses are made during a typical weekend mission.

Brock is familiar to many viewers who watched the weekly network TV show about animals, "Wild Kingdom," with host Marlon Perkins, director of the St. Louis Zoo. Brock was an associate producer and co-host of the show. He was the one being chased by snarling animals while Perkins narrated.

What do the homeless in New Orleans and international medical missions to Tennessee tell us about the delivery of basic services to people in need?

Given the fact that we have more resources than any other nation on earth, it is distressing to see some areas of this great country where even the essentials are hard to come by thanks to government screwups and overall poor planning.

The idea that the homeless numbers are growing in New Orleans and that medical missions are serving Tennessee as well as African nations should be appalling to every American.