I caught the ferry back to my side of the river after the Algiers Festival on the West Bank of New Orleans. As I stood by the railing enjoying the view of the Mississippi River and the skyline of the city, a couple came over and we struck up a conversation. As is customary now, they asked,"How did you make out in the Storm?" I said I lived in Gentilly, and they gave a knowing nod. "Lost everything, huh?" "Yeah, but I am doing alright now. I got an SBA loan and bought a modular house and soon I will be moving back to my neighborhood. How about you?"
"As of last Friday, we are homeless," the man said. Danny and Una explained to me that Jefferson Parish (a New Orleans suburb) passed an ordinance that people had to get out of trailers, and trailers would be removed from certain communities by March 30. The authorities had come and thrown them and their belongings into the street.
There are over 12,000 families living in trailers and trailer parks in Louisiana. They are treated like prisoners in some of these parks and are subject to be thrown out at a moment's notice. Recently, for example, 58 families at the Yorkshire trailer park were evicted--their lives disrupted again.
While trailers are not the answer to the crisis, they are all that some people have now as an alternative to homelessness. We need affordable housing now. This is not just a Gulf coast problem; it is a national problem. Since the 1980s, government funding for housing has been repeatedly cut. HUD's budget has dropped 65 percent since 1978, from over $83 billion to $29 billion in 2006. HUD has spent $0 on new public housing, while more than 100,000 public housing units have been lost to demolition, sale, or other removal in the last ten years. At the same time, more than 600,000 identified homeless students went to public schools in the 2003-2004 school year.
Low-income residents in New Orleans cannot come back home because they can't afford the housing. Neither can police officers, teachers, childcare providers and many others. In 2006 the median price of a house in New Orleans was $174,000. NHC estimates it would take a $59,778 salary to afford such a house.
Many can't afford the rents either. The median rent for a 1 bedroom apartment is $804, and $940 for a 2 bedroom. You need $15.46 an hour for a one bedroom, and $18.08 for a 2 bedroom, according to NHC.
On Monday morning, Danny and Una will begin calling for help. They must beg for charity because our government does not recognize any claim based in human decency or economic justice that would insure housing as a fundamental human right for its citizens.
Housing is a basic need for survival. It is a human right.
