| Rebuilding New Orleans | Katrina Anniversary Aug 2006 |
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June 2006 |
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March 2006 |  |
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New Orleans and Gulfport, MS | Lower Ninth Ward March | Hands around the Superdome and other events | Gulfport, MS and Common Ground | Common Ground | Public Housing | Culture | Aftermath | People and Houses | Common Ground | Walkin to New Orleans Vets and survivors march |
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June 2006: Public Housing projects in New Orleans have been vacant and locked since September. Many apartments were not damaged. Many do have mold that could be cleaned up. Residents of 10,000 units have been barred from their apartments with all their belongings in them. On Saturday, June 2 residents and volunteers built a tent city in front of the largest project, St. Bernard Development in Gentilly. Pamela Mahogany , a St. Bernard resident was asked by a reporter if they wouldn't be hot in the tents. She replied that after spending 3 days in the Superdome, the heat on the city streets would not be hard to deal with. It is widely assumed that the state seeks to keep residents permanently out of the projects, opting instead to turn them into green space or sell the lands off to private developers. Note: June 15: HUD announced that they will close St. Bernard and 1000 units in the city will be returned to the lease holders.
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The United Front for Affordable Housing organized the tent city known as Survivors Village. A volunteer and a resident put down a floor for a tent. |
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St. Bernard residents and volunteers pitch a tent in front of the housing project. The group plans to camp there making their demands known to HUD who runs the projects. If they have not been allowed back into their homes by July 4 they plan to take down the fence. |
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Gloria Irving leads a prayer as the tents go up. Her t-shirt says St. Bernard Development and features a photo of the buildings. (I asked if they had the t-shirts for sale, but they didn't have them that day.) |
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A resident points at the uninhabited and fenced housing project. Residents were forced to leave their possessions behind. Many apartments were looted. Some residents complained that their belongings were now in storage. The Housing Authority of New Orleans, HANO, built the projects but the administration was taken over by the federal department Housing and Urban Development, HUD. The fences display "No Trespassing" signs. |
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A Survivors Village was erected at the St. Bernard Project. Press was invited to the event and it did produce some good coverage including a full page in the New York Times with photos. Meanwhile, residents of several housing projects went into their developments and their apartments and began to clean. I talked to a woman from the Iberville project who said that over 100 people had taken back their apartments and were living there. Signs at Iberville, which is adjacent to the French Quarter, say No Trespassing. She said they had been threatened with arrest several times for occupying the apartments that they hold leases for. So far they remain. The powers that be in the city want the projects back to reconstruct as middle class housing. There is no plan for the poor people of New Orleans. |
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Public housing residents said they were being kicked out of their homes in other cities because FEMA was no longer paying the bills. Said one resident, "We might as well be homeless in New Orleans as in Houston." |
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Ron Chisolm of the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, an organization which provides nation wide trainings in undoing racism. |
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When I visited New Orleans in March, I saw very few children. In June, along with their parents they are returning to New Orleans to rebuild. |
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Photographer to photographer. |
Articles about St. Bernard Development Four N.O. housing developments will be demolished. But 1,000 other units to reopen by August, NOLA.com, June 15, 2006Survivor's Village Established Outside St. Bernard Development New Orleans Indymedia Important New Orleans Websites: http://commongroundrelief.org volunteers and donors, check out Common Ground http://neworleansnetwork.org news and a good calendar http://katrinaaction.org Katrina Information Network, emergency response network http://peopleshurricane.org People's Hurricane Relief Fund http://pisab.org People's Institute for Survival and Beyond http://neworelansvfp.org New Orleans Voices for Peace; Veterans Issues, Peace Activism and Hurricane Relief http://nolarises.com news and Information http://neworleans.indymedia.org Indymeida New Orleans http://nola.com The New Orleans Times Picyune online http://kidcameraproject.org Fantastic photos from kids in the neighborhood. http://wwoz.org Listen online to the great New Orleans jazz station. http://www.savebigeasy.org/ Project about Levees |
| Rebuilding New Orleans | Katrina Anniversary Aug 2006 |
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June 2006 |
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March 2006 | |
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New Orleans and Gulfport, MS | Lower Ninth Ward March | Hands around the Superdome and other events | Gulfport, MS and Common Ground | Common Ground | Public Housing | Culture | Aftermath | People and Houses | Common Ground | Walkin to New Orleans Vets and survivors march |
Copyright Diane Greene Lent 2006