Our mission is to transform unjust housing policies, discriminatory practices, and inequitable development schemes by engaging in strategies that create permanently affordable housing, advance tenant rights, expand housing security, and uphold equitable housing patterns and land use planning.
2026, Standing Together
2026 has hit the ground running, and not in all the directions we’d want. As we write this piece, those of us at Jane Place are thinking of our neighbors here in New Orleans as well as our comrades across the country and around the world who are with us in the struggle. We uplift and support the fight of all people and communities attempting to survive under new surges of terror, as we see parents separated from their children, workers torn from their jobs, and renters either forced from their homes or locked inside because the threat of walking out in the world has become too great. All these fights are connected, and this month we are writing to share one small piece of the fight to preserve and protect our community here in New Orleans. We derive strength from knowing similar fights are happening everywhere, every day.
Ms. Gloria’s Fight for Her Home and Garden
You may remember the powerful interview with Ms. Gloria Ward we did here in the November 2024 issue. Ms. Gloria is a New Orleans septuagenarian, a tenant leader with the ArtSpace Bell Apartments Tenants Union, and the operator of a community garden that she manages called “Ms. Gloria’s Garden,” which is presently located outside of the ArtSpace Bell Apartments. The garden represents years of love and labor and provides an essential community space in Tremé. Over time, iterations of the garden have hosted events ranging from youth cooking classes to a neighborhood farmers market.
Unfortunately, in the midst of this past holiday season, both Ms. Gloria’s residence and garden received “Notices to Vacate” from ArtSpace Bell’s new property management company, HRI Management. HRI Management is a New Orleans-based property management and real estate company that has grown immensely in the past decades and is now managing and redeveloping properties across the nation. HRI’s reasons for terminating Ms. Gloria’s lease are trite, and Ms. Gloria’s legal team is fighting the notice.
It must be noted that Ms. Gloria, like many tenants at the ArtSpace Bell apartments, sought out living there because, when the building was redeveloped in 2018, it advertised itself to be an affordable housing opportunity for New Orleans artists and culture bearers, and its tenants now include land stewards like Ms. Gloria, Mardi Gras Black Masking Indians, and many other musical and visual artists who help shape New Orleans’ identity through their work. Many of these artists, like Ms. Gloria, are elders. Despite recent attempts to evict Ms. Gloria and her garden, the building’s website still does advertise itself as a “thriving cultural center perpetuating the indigenous history of Tremé.”
To show Ms. Gloria that she’s not alone in her fight for her home and her garden, we recently co-organized a press conference with Ms. Gloria, her supporters, the ArtSpace Tenants Union, and the New Orleans Renters’ Rights Assembly. The event was filled with joy, strength, and determination. That day, we received word that the management isn’t going to proceed with an eviction against Ms. Gloria, but we (and her legal team) are keeping a close eye on them and will be asking for confirmation in writing that they’re not going to evict her from her apartment or the garden.
We remain vigilant because we’ve been through this rodeo before. Tenants citywide are daily faced with the reality that landlords and property managers often have to be pressured into the actions that are required of them by law, whether that is making repairs or properly returning tenants’ security deposits. And tenants at ArtSpace Bell have themselves been through this fight before.
Ms. Gloria speaking out at the January 12 press conference to save her community garden
Faced with property managers who were neglecting their duties, tenants at the ArtSpace Bell Apartments started organizing to form a tenant union three and a half years ago. Tenants came together to fight back against deteriorating physical conditions at their building and confusing management and rent collection practices that jeopardized tenants’ tenancies. This fight saw tenants come out with multiple victories—they were able to oust their previous property management company and force significant mold remediation for the building.
However, now with HRI Management installed as their new property managers, tenants must contend with a company that doesn’t have the best track record of maintaining properties, or operating with fairness at its properties intended to house individuals needing affordable or accessible units. In a tenant meeting that was recorded, tenants learned that the new management company will be raising rents gradually on many units in this affordable apartment complex, jeopardizing the ability of many of our city’s elder culture bearers to remain safely and sustainably housed in New Orleans. The struggle continues! Stay tuned for updates from ArtSpace Bell, or reach out to us at Jane Place and our comrades at the New Orleans Renters’ Rights Assembly to join us in this fight.
In 2026, we will need solidarity more than ever! Let’s build a beautiful coalition! Follow Jane Place, New Orleans Renters’ Rights Assembly, and Ms. Gloria’s Garden on social media to stay in touch:
As Ms. Gloria always says, “If you can’t touch it with love, don’t touch it all!”
This space is provided to Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative as a community service and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or editorial policies of ANTIGRAVITY.
