Activists say addressing housing problems needed more than ever during coronavirus pandemic
6th April 2020 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
With thousands of residents worried about whether they’ll have a roof over their heads as the COVID-19 pandemic slices through the city, New Orleans non-profit organizations and city officials continue to press for more available, affordable and secure housing options for citizens.
“We’re trying to get our elected officials and decision-makers to understand that they can no longer ignore the housing problems in our community, and that the coronavirus will only exacerbate the situation,” said Andreanecia Morris, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance.
In March, the GNOHA formally issued a call to local, state and federal leaders to adopt four goals toward establishing stable housing in the city: provide rental assistance to both renters and landlords, and secure available hotels and AirBnB’s for the homeless as shelter-in-place orders continue; place families with housing-authority vouchers into some of the more than 35,000 vacant homes in the city; see definite action by state legislators to solve the state’s affordable-housing crisis by finding a source of revenue for the state Housing Trust Fund; and include housing funding in the pending federal emergency stimulus package.
Such proposals follow the halt that was placed on all evictions in Louisiana by local, state and court officials, and reports broke last week that city and state officials have moved to place the homeless residents into rooms at the downtown Hilton Garden Inn.
Also last month, President Trump, the Republican-led U.S. Senate and the Democratic-led House of Representatives worked on passing a nearly $2-trillion economic stimulus plan.
However, Morris said that while state and especially federal officials dicker about specific terms of the massive stimulus bill, the local need for secure housing continues to mount, Morris said.
She noted that in addition to renters struggling to pay rent with their jobs and health endangered, landlords have their own financial responsibilities, including property taxes and performing needed maintenance and upkeep on their buildings.
Another example of a specific goal that could alleviate the housing crisis, according to a GNOHA press release, is how New Orleans currently has nearly 900 housing authorities that haven’t been used, as well as a 24,000-person waiting list for vouchers.
Morris said such factors are part of a “ripple effect” being caused on the New Orleans housing situation and the wider economy.
“There’s a cascading effect that people don’t seem to understand,” she said. She added that while it certainly helps in the short term that the courts have blocked evictions for now, “people need to know that’s not sufficient. We have to address the underlying conditions.”
Cashauna Hill, the executive director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, said her organization is focused on the basic goal of providing local residents with safe, protected housing in which they can get through the COVID-19 outbreak.
Specifically, she said that in addition to rental assistance month-to-month, residents need to be protected from rent accrual, in which landlords ease payment requirements for the time being, but then charge renters the cumulative amount later. She also said, for example, that officials need to work with banks and other lenders to provide mortgage forbearance for homeowners struggling to meet their mortgage payments.
“One thing is clear,” Hill said, “[Housing] outcomes correlate with what happens to each of us. We need to provide for everyone so we can ensure that we as a country, and we as a community, survive this. We’re facing an unprecedented crisis, and we need creative, bold action.”
Members of the New Orleans City Council told The Louisiana Weekly that they hear the concerns from the public regarding housing and are working to both support state and federal relief actions, and to alleviate the crisis here in New Orleans for individual residents.
“My office has been on the ground working since last week,” District E Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen said. “We have people whose living conditions aren’t appropriate. We’re working to identifying a way to get people some place safe.”
Nguyen said her office has received calls from citizens expressing concerns about their living situation, and that she and her staff have been pushing for help specifically for the homeless living under the bridge near the Superdome.
“We’re trying to get resources to help them,” she said.
She added that housing some of the homeless from the makeshift encampment in local hotels can’t be a long-term solution, but for now it’ll keep people safe. “It’s better than being on the streets at this point,” she said.
District D Councilman Jared C. Brossett said the city continues to press the federal government for specific relief actions and resource allocation in the stimulus bill, and he noted that federal Community Development Block Grants might be available for property owners to enhance their properties and provide more adequate housing for their renters.
He said that Trump’s approval of a major disaster declaration for Louisiana will open up many additional funding streams and development programs to the state and the city, including FEMA programs that can provide housing and rental assistance.
Brossett added that in addition, New Orleanians need resources to help them find stable employment that would help them afford housing. He said that because New Orleans “is a city of renters, we have to make sure all the federal aid gets to everybody that needs work or a job.”
Ultimately, Morris said, sweeping reforms are needed on a local and especially state level to address these challenges in the long term by eliminating the underlying economic and demographic causes that lead to housing insecurity.
Morris said that temporary actions during the current COVID-19 crisis, such as a halt to evictions, need to be translated beyond the current situation.
This article originally published in the April 6, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
