Eviction Diversion Project receives Legal Service Innovation Award
18th October 2021 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
New Orleans First City Court’s Eviction Diversion Project will receive the 2021 Legal Service Innovation Award from the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA).
The award honors a public interest organization that has developed an innovative method of delivering legal services to people with unmet needs. First City Court (FCC), led by Judge Veronica Henry, collaborated with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS), the City of New Orleans, and the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center to provide on-demand legal assistance for tenants, an information desk for landlords and tenants, prioritization for tenants facing eviction for emergency rental assistance programs, and early notification at the time of filing.
The three other sections of FCC are presided over by Judge Monique G. Morial, Judge Marissa Hutabarat, and Judge E. “Teena” Anderson-Trahan.
The FCC’s Eviction Diversion Project was honored on Friday, October 15 during a virtual ceremony.
“This is the first comprehensive Eviction Diversion Project in Louisiana,” said Judge Henry in a press release. “We are certainly proud of the accomplishment and thank our partners….for their support and hard work.”
Judge Henry said the project started in January 2021 as a way to meet the need for alternative solutions to eviction and eviction processing in a way that would benefit both landlords and tenants.
“Eviction is not always the answer if the parties work to find equitable alternative,” Judge Henry said in the press release. “To be sure, the consequences of housing instability are far-reaching. It benefits communities to try to keep individuals housed.”
Marjorianna Willman, director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said the project has been such a success that other parishes and cities have contacted her to ask how they could implement similar programs.
“It’s truly an innovative program,” Willman said.
Willman is proud of the Eviction Diversion Project’s work because the eviction process is a traumatic one for anyone to endure, especially during a time as challenging as the current COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s devastating for a family to come home and find they no longer have a place to live,” Willman said. “It can have a lifelong impact on young people.”
Laura Tuggle, executive director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, was happy to hear of the award.
“As the ‘go-to’ legal aid organization providing critical eviction defense to vulnerable tenants for over 50 years, we know how important keeping families in housing is to their stability and community health. We are proud to partner with First City Court, the City of New Orleans, and the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center on this innovative eviction diversion project,” Tuggle said.
This article originally published in the October 18, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
