Visit the Katrina FEMA Trailer in DC…

and support the preservation of affordable housing in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast! 

From an email from Advancement Project:

“On Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 9:30 am – 3:30 pm, Advancement Project in collaboration with Turkey Creek Community Initiatives, will host the FEMA Trailer Experience in the Nation’s Capital.  You can tour the trailer; and there will be a press conference at noon with residents of New Orleans. 

Also participating:  Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, Katrina Information Network, Louisiana Justice Institute, and others.

THE FEMA TRAILER “EXPERIENCE” COMES TO THE NATION’S CAPITAL 

Two years has passed since Hurricane Katrina and thousands of families in the Gulf Coast region lost their homes. Due to government inaction many of these families have spent two years living in desperate conditions-FEMA trailers.  On Friday, September 21, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development formally authorized the demolition of the 4 major public housing developments in New Orleans-Lafitte, St. Bernard, C.J. Peete, and B.W. Cooper.   The demolition will be the largest demolition in the City’s history. It would effectively deprive thousands of public housing families of the ability to return to New Orleans.

In the face of an extreme shortage of affordable housing, the government should not demolish perfectly habitable affordable housing.  HUD plans to replace 7,100 units of housing with 3,100 units, many families will be displaced for years, others forever.  In the meanwhile, many families languish in FEMA trailers.

A FEMA trailer is coming to the nation’s capital, so that members of Congress and the general public can “experience” how gulf coast families of 4 persons or more live on day-to-day basis.  The FEMA trailer is meant to create a chronicle – a living, breathing, and continuous consideration of an event that still hasn’t fully resonated with the citizens of the United States. By giving individuals the proper perspective of how truly terrible the situation is for thousands of gulf coast families, we can keep the flames of blame against the federal government fully fueled and burning bright.

In addition, on Tuesday, September 25, congressional hearings will be held on a bill [S. 1668] sponsored by Senators Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La) that has the potential to provide housing relief for thousands of gulf coast families.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took the lead with this legislation- Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007- passing it early this year in the House.   

Residents are fighting back! They are inside the fatal fray and on September 25 will share their sentiments by demanding answers from elected officials.  Why weren’t they able to just go back when the flood waters subsided and the rest of the city’s residents went home?  Why did the government spend millions of dollars boarding up their homes instead of repairing them?  Residents are issuing a call to action for the public, politicians, and all justice-minded people to support their right to return home.  

Who:                New Orleans Residents
What:               Press Conference 
When:              Tuesday, September 25, Noon (press conference)

FEMA trailer will be on site from 9:30-3:00 PM

Where: The 900 block of 17th Street

(between I and K on the park side of the street).”

To Redstar readers:

Support S. 1668: The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act!!