Hotline: Housing in New Orleans - Take Action Now!To: U.S. Economic Justice Advocates and Gulf Coast Allies Included below is an urgent letter from Pam Nath, MCC’s Gulf Coast learning & discernment worker, regarding the imminent destruction of public housing units in New Orleans – a city that desperately needs more affordable housing as soon as possible so its residents can return. Pam has a list of ideas about how individuals around the country can learn more and get involved. The MCC Washington joins Pam in her concern about the proposed demolitions. Important legislation pending in Congress (S. 1668) mandates minimum levels of housing replacement in the Gulf Coast and these demolitions appear to be an attempt by federal and state agencies to make an “end run” around the solutions being crafted by elected representatives. Please read Pam’s letter, consider how you might become involved in the current struggle to oppose demolitions and scroll down to the end of this message to see if your senator sits on the committee which still needs to approve S. 1668. Visit the Washington Office website to add your name to Gulf Coast specific action alerts and learn more about Gulf Coast issues in Congress and S. 1668. Pam's LetterWe are facing a very urgent crisis these days in New Orleans. Please see Monday's New York Times front page article about the housing crunch in New Orleans even as the Department of Housing and Urban Development continues with its plans to bulldoze the four largest public housing complexes in the city (several of which received very little damage from Katrina and the resulting levee breaks and all of which are being demolished over the objections of preservationists--for those of you interested in these issues, see the p.s. below). Even worse, the redevelopment plans for these buildings reduce the public housing units in the city by 82%. I also would highly recommend an excellent story about the issues behind these demolitions, written by Bill Quigley, a civil rights attorney here in New Orleans. Bill's article does a very good job of telling the story of the race and class cleansing that will be the result of these demolitions should they go forward, as well as the corruption and greed that appears to be fueling the demolition plans. I (and many others here in the city) believe that it is going to take a public outcry, both at the local and national levels, to stop these housing developments from being torn down. There is a call-out to folks to come to New Orleans the week of Dec. 10 to join in the efforts to defend public housing; please contact me if you are interested and I'll forward information about this to you. If you are not able to travel to N.O., you can still play an important role. Folks on the ground here have also sent a call-out for allies in cities nationwide to plan rallies on Dec. 10 (Human Rights Day). The rallies are intended to insist that HUD (as an arm of the federal government) reverse its plans to tear down these affordable housing units in New Orleans, plans which will only worsen the housing crisis that already exists here and which will deprive thousands of displaced residents of their right to return to the city (a right spelled out by UN guidelines regarding internally displaced persons, guidelines which also apply to displacement related to natural disasters). Through these rallies, we also hope to call national attention to these plans (and thus help to stir up the sort of public outcry that is needed). Folks here on the ground in New Orleans are putting together a press packet you could use for any event that you might plan. There may also be events nearby you that are planned by others and that you could attend. We are working to create a website where you should be able to check out (and post) where actions are planned. This info should eventually be available at defendneworleanspublichousing.org. (The website is already up with links to a lot of valuable information, but it does not yet have information about the rallies that are planned. But it should have this soon! BTW, the website has some beautiful images of Lafitte, one of the housing complexes slated to be torn down. Take a look at these pictures and you may get a sense of how unreal it is that there are plans to tear these down, especially in a city that is so badly in need of housing.) Lastly, if none of these things are possible for you (or if you want more to do in addition to the things above), we are also collecting funds that will be used for various things--helping displaced residents with transportation back to the city for the protests here, providing food and housing for out-of-town allies who come to join the struggle, legal support funds for those who may engage in civil disobedience, etc. Donations can be sent to Hope House c/o Bro. Don Everard 919 Saint Andrew St, New Orleans, LA 70130 (checks should be made out to Hope House and earmarked for Coalition to Stop the Demolition). I'd love to talk to any of you more about the possibilities and about what you are planning to do! Just send me a note and your contact info and I'll call! I also have tons of additional information related to this issue that I would just LOVE to send you if you are interested, so please ask if you want further clarification about any of this. Pam Nath Additional suggestions for national advocates:Support the Struggle for Housing in New Orleans and Everywhere! We are calling on our national allies who cannot join us in New Orleans on December 10th to take action at home against the demolitions and in support of housing as a human right. The assault on public housing in New Orleans is a threat to housing across the United States. Please call the following:
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