Washington Determined to Demolish New Orleans' Public Housing

Interview with Elizabeth Cook, housing activist, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

One year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, fewer than half the city's former residents have returned. Among its former public housing tenants, a much smaller percentage have come back. All the housing projects in the city, whether or not they were flooded, were closed for most of the past year, and many of the residents are still scattered in cities around Louisiana and throughout the South. HUD, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, has announced it would demolish most of the units.

But the Housing Authority of New Orleans, or HANO, has now reopened a few of the projects, and more residents are returning, despite great obstacles.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Elizabeth Cook, a New Orleanian who works with a group called the United Front for Affordable Housing, comprised of public housing residents and community activists. She describes some of the hardships low-income tenants in New Orleans have faced, and what they're doing about it.

Contact United Front for Affordable Housing in New Orleans at (504) 520-9521 or visit the group's website at www.survivorsvillage.com

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