November 5 was “housing day” for the City of New Orleans’ proposed budget hearings—and boy, was it ever. The meeting started with a bombastic exchange between Councilmembers Joe Giarrusso and JP Morrell and Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance (GNOHA) Executive Director Andreanecia Morris, concerning a text that had gone out that very morning. The text told recipients to contact their City councilmembers and protest GNOHA’s (and therefore Morris’) removal from the New Orleans affordable housing trust, and gave recipients the councilmembers’ personal cell phone numbers. Morris denied that she or her organization had been involved with the text and was ignored when she repeatedly asked who the sender had been. Instead, the councilmembers repeatedly urged her to “condemn” this action and compared Morris’ alleged approval of this action to Trump (“stand down and stand by”) and King Henry II of England (“will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”). There was of course more ground for the Council to cover—the $160 million budget deficit for one, and the fact that they’ve got a city to run. Director of the City of New Orleans’ Office Of Homeless Services And Strategy (OHSS) Nathaniel Fields also presented on his office’s work. Out of a goal of housing 1,500 individuals by the year’s end, the office has housed a reported 1,422 people thus far this year, over 90% of their goal—though they have continued the inhumane practice of encampment sweeps and displacement. Councilmember Freddie King III then hopped on the mic to complain that his constituents—business owners—are severely inconvenienced by the unhoused population, and that maybe unhoused people, especially those originally from out of town, are given too much help when compared to housed New Orleanians who are also struggling. The following is an excerpt of in-person public comments. They have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
I just want to say the homeless situation in New Orleans is terrible, definitely need the funding to keep [programming] going for people like myself and other people in the future.1Joseph D.
We’re the operators of the low barrier shelter and engagement center. I’m here with my colleagues. First, I want to acknowledge the serious budget challenges our city faces. I’m here today to ask that you prioritize funding for OHSS and for the low barrier shelters to support continued operation at the current level. OHSS and the shelter are cornerstones of New Orleans, helping people to transition off the streets and into stability. A recent economic impact study estimates that the low barrier shelter, with its unique interconnectivity to Odyssey House’s services, provides $39.8 million in cost savings associated with chronic homelessness to both the city and state. Cutting this funding now would mean turning people back to the streets.2Lonnie G. (Odyssey House)
We know that efforts to improve throughput at the homeless shelters is vital to addressing inflow of newly-unhoused folks in our community who come to the streets and shelters. We are extremely proud of the success that our members have had in working toward the goal of housing 1,500 individuals. That goal is not inclusive of families, youth, veterans, and people fleeing domestic violence. When [they] are taken into account, our collaborative has housed 2,679 people in 25 months, over 100 people every month. Homelessness is a persistent problem in New Orleans because we have an extremely wide wealth gap, where 25% of our city lives below the poverty line, and that is what drives homelessness.3Joe H. M. (UNITY of Greater New Orleans)
About six months ago, I became homeless for the first time in my 50 years, and I’m at the low barrier shelter, and I’d like to say that the staff there is doing a phenomenal job. I would love to see them continue to get the funding they need to allocate it as necessary. We’re in some dark times, I think, in our government issues, and I would hate to see homelessness here in our great city become criminalized, because it will cost so much more money for that than to allocate funds.4Deanna L.
The shelter has been a great blessing to me, as far as giving me shelter. But most of the time when services are rendered, it’s mainly just kind of like a phone book. You walk up, they say, OK, you can get this service here, and then you have to leave out and physically do it yourself. I feel like a lot of the money is being put in the wrong places, even though there’s good expectations.5Antony H.
Good evening. I’m a resident at the low barrier shelter. I’ve been there for about 26 days. Ever since I’ve been there, I’ve been not only getting my needs met, but even my wants. They’re going to the end of the road to get whatever you need. They’re there to help you. I need the shelter to be funded so we all can thrive.6Dee D.
To follow up on this issue, you can email your City councilmembers. To submit a public comment, follow instructions at council.nola.gov. Interested in reading all comments after a meeting? You can email your councilmember or file a public records request.
illustration by Sadie Wiese
