Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Changed in a Moment: Interview of 9/11 Widow Nilsa Rivera on Charity

Aired October 29, 2001 - 08:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Donations have certainly been pouring in, more than $1 billion pledged and $631 million collected to help those affected by the terror attacks.

But according to an article in "TIME" magazine, The relief effort by 190 charities has too often resembled a straggling army of compassion, bogged down by the obstinacy of the American Red Cross, the lack of focus by other charities, and general confusion about how to reach out to those in need.

Nilsa Rivera lost her husband, and joined us just days after the attacks. Since then, she has applied for help from several organizations, but has come up almost empty handed.

Thank you so much for coming back.

NILSA RIVERA, WIDOW OF WTC VICTIM: You're welcome.

ZAHN: What kind of help have you gotten since we last spoke?

RIVERA: Well, this whole experience has been, to say the least, a grueling experience. I have received, from the American Red Cross, a reasonable amount to help me -- to tide me over for one or two months for my immediate needs. However, the other organizations, it has been a struggle to get, you know, some help there.

ZAHN: All right. We've heard so many stories about families traveling down to the Family Center, which, I guess, is a difficult thing to even force yourself to do, just on a purely emotional level. You've gone down there. What have you been subjected to, because, clearly, there has been some fraud, and they want to be very careful that they don't give people, who don't deserve the money, any money.

RIVERA: Well, I understand that, and this has become a full-time job for me, to be living practically in the pier. But there should be some sort of system that if you go and report mainly to the Crime Victim's Board, and you present all of your legal documents, that should be passed on to the next organization and the one after that. And what I'm finding is that I have to go through the same grueling experience all over again, providing these documents time and time again. And it's becoming overwhelming, because it's frustrating to have to repeat myself and get these.

ZAHN: And has the system made you feel like a beggar?

RIVERA: You know, I have to say, yes. I have never felt like a charity case, and it's something I'm not used to. But because of the need -- my husband was the sole provider of the home -- my financial stability has been taken away.

ZAHN: Absolutely.

RIVERA: So I have to force myself to go and get financial help, something I'm not used to, because I need it. And it's not only for the immediate help that I need, but also long term. My husband's salary will no longer be there, and I will never make his salary. So now, I have to look down the road in the future. What am I going to do to be able to provide medical, dental coverage, educational funds for my children...

ZAHN: Because you have two children, too, a 20 year old and a 4 year old.

RIVERA: Exactly.

ZAHN: Now, is it true that you've been told, during some of these meetings, that you couldn't have access to funds because those were earmarked for firefighters and police officers whose families were affected by this tragedy?

RIVERA: Absolutely. You know, God bless our firemen and our policemen, and their survivors deserve everything that they're getting. But I think that people are failing to realize that there's also a large number of civilians who also perished, and the survivors are not getting the same benefits that are being offered the same way that they are.

ZAHN: And as you've gone through this horrible process, the president of the Red Cross has resigned over all of the controversy involving how people get to these funds. You've got the attorney general of the state of New York trying to create a data bank and computerizing this information to make it easier. In the last week, have you seen any change at all, or is it just as hard it was from day one to get to the right place?

RIVERA: It's as hard it was from day one. I have to keep going back. There hasn't been a follow-up system. Things that I have applied for have not been met, and I have to keep following up. And there should be a system where people should call and say, Have you been taken care of? Is there any other way that I can help you? And I think the guidelines itself should be restructured, as opposed to past disasters, because this is so different.

And to be able to follow by these, go by the rules and these guidelines, and just provide small amounts in such a big catastrophe as this, I think, they really should look into that and rethink how they're going to distribute these funds, because they're really holding out.

ZAHN: Well, clearly, they're trying to work on all of these details, because this massive amount of money was pledged, and some of it has come in, and some of it hasn't. And, you know, they're trying to figure the system out.

But what is it like for you to sit there on a daily basis when the government basically tells Americans we need to move on -- at a time when you can't really move on because you're just trying to figure out how to support your family right now.

RIVERA: That's exactly right. I cannot think of what I'm going to do tomorrow, because I have to worry about today. And every day it has become a struggle to worry about today, where I'm going to make ends meet, and how I'm going to provide for my children. And where do I go from here? I have a mortgage, you know, I have bills that I never thought I had before, because my husband took care of that. And that has become my full priority and focus and full-time job. I can't move on.

I haven't even had a time to, you know, properly mourn and grieve for the loss of my husband, because I am so bombarded and overwhelmed with this process that has taken over a month.

ZAHN: We wish you tremendous luck. And I know even as we're speaking, you've got officials trying to figure out how to clean up some of the confusion surrounding the process you must go through. And we'd love to have you come back in a couple of weeks, to let us know whether you found any safety valve for your family. Thank you, Nilsa.

RIVERA: I'd be more than happy...

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: Appreciate you sharing your story with us.

RIVERA: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.