Jackson Free Press logo

This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

A U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development settlement will bring $132 million to renters impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Credit: Kate Medley

Gov. Haley Barbour and first lady Marsha Barbour will host the state’s Hurricane Katrina memorial event Sunday, Aug. 29 in Gulfport, on the storm’s five-year anniversary.

The event will feature U.S. Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, U.S. Rep Gene Taylor, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and musical performances by Paul Overstreet, the Williams Brothers, St. Rose de Lima Choir and the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Civic Chorale.

Prior to the event, Barbour will announce details for a $350 million work-force housing program funded through the Mississippi Development Authority’s Disaster Recovery Division.

The memorial event starts at 3 p.m. at 15th Street in downtown Gulfport between City Hall and the First United Methodist Church.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.