A New Orleans Afternoon

My boyfriend's brother is headed to New Orleans tomorrow for the first time, and we've been peppering him with lessons about the city since Christmas, nerdy PhDs that we are.  We instructed him to get out and see the neighborhoods, "to see how much of the city remains in ruin, how limited the rebuilding has been, and how much work remains to be done. it is a huge city, and its different districts and neighborhoods have their  own histories and traditions."  (Other lessons included directions, vernacular, cemeteries, food, nightlife, bars, and history.)  It's got us wishing we could be there for Mardi Gras - and visit the wonderful Backstreet Cultural Museum.

I hope you all read about the struggle to save Charity Hospital this morning; in an email Tracie tells me it's "been one of the best organizing movements I have ever had the pleasure of being part of; it crosses race and class and economics and political affiliations..."  She closes by saying we need D.C. to pay attention to this fight and to re-open Charity now!

It could certainly be part of any stimulus effort.  Howard Fineman writes in Newsweek that NOLA could be Obama's "Exhibit A" for economic recovery.

And you know, sometimes publicity and activism works.

Two days ago the The Advocate wrote that Disaster Housing Assistance Vouchers were coming to an end on March 1.  31,000 families are:

"victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita across Louisiana...set to lose their federal disaster housing subsidy, a move that state officials and private charities say will leave many homeless.

The state last year asked for a three-year extension of the program, citing the shortage of affordable housing and the national credit crunch. Former President George W. Bush’s administration notified the state on Jan. 16 — the administration’s last working day — that it denied the state’s request for an extension.

But special props to Sen. Landrieu and housing advocates in the Gulf Coast and DC for fighting for an extension - it worked!

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Tuesday that he has decided that there must be a transition period, the details of which are still being worked out, because the agency won't be able to process housing vouchers for all eligible families. As of last week, the Housing Authority of New Orleans had processed only a few hundred vouchers even though more than 4,000 had been allotted for renters terminated by DHAP.

Donovan also plans to extend eligibility for permanent vouchers to all DHAP renters whose incomes fall below HUD's usual Section 8 income limits. The Bush administration had decided to give vouchers only to the elderly, disabled or extremely low-income families.

So let's keep on keepin' on, good people!  We've got work to do!