Hurricane heroes earn Profile in Courage Award

BOSTON -- The mayor of Houston and the head of schools in Saint Bernard Parish in Louisiana are honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

Both were recognized today in Boston for their work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Houston welcomed hundreds of thousands of people who fled the Gulf Coast after the 2005 hurricane. Mayor Bill White helped the city match evacuees with housing, jobs and education.

Doris Voitier took out loans, secured portable classrooms and rented trailers for displaced teachers to reopen the schools, despite having a borrowed computer and no working phones.

Voitier says the storm forever changed the lives of people living in her parish.

Caroline Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy presented the awards today to White and Voitier at the John F. Kennedy Library.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)