Please click to here to send an email to your Representative and prevent needless foreclosures.

If passed, the bill would improve homeownership protection by making information available about free housing counseling or legal services for homeowners facing sheriff’s sale.

This Friday, May 17^th, Cripple Creek Theatre Company will premiere Bruce Norris’ play Clybourne Park for the first time in the region at the Shadow Box Theater here in New Orleans. Currently one of the hottest plays on Broadway, Clybourne Park takes place in a house in south Chicago over the span of 50 years. A response to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in The Sun, the play dissects race relations and exclusionary housing practices from 1959 until 2009.

Over the last year, GNOFHAC has been proud to collaborate with Cripple Creek Theatre Company on multiple community based theater initiatives. The production of Clybourne Park is an integral part of this initiative, following the creation and staged reading of Spirit House, an original play about gender and housing by local playwrights Geryll Robinson and Lakeesha Harris, and produced by Cripple Creek.

Clybourne Park will run from May 17^th until June 23^rd, and tickets may be purchased here. Consider going to see the show- we may be biased but we are really excited about the opportunity to use theater as a tool to discuss such important topics.

Also on Friday, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced its own settlement with the Parish in regards to a separate lawsuit it filed, also in January 2012, which alleged that the Parish “violated the Fair Housing Act by engaging in a multi-year campaign to limit rental housing opportunities for African-Americans in the parish.”  The USDOJ settlement requires the Parish to undergo comprehensive fair housing training, establish a Parish-wide Office of Fair Housing staffed by at least one full-time Fair Housing Coordinator, engage in affirmative marketing to both developers of rental housing and renters interested in living in the Parish, and establish a rental land grant program to facilitate the development of rental housing throughout the Parish.

Both settlements stem from alleged civil rights violations on the part of the Parish that have unfolded over the course of more than seven years.

GNOFHAC settled an earlier challenge to a Parish ordinance that restricted the rental of single-family residences to those related by blood to the owner of the property. In 2008, the Parish agreed to enter into a consent decree with GNOFHAC resolving that lawsuit. However, the Parish and the Parish Council were repeatedly held in contempt by a federal judge for violating the 2008 Consent Order, including for enacting two multi-family construction moratoria that were found to violate the Fair Housing Act. Racial discrimination has been a clear and consistent theme throughout the course of the legal battle.

GNOFHAC Executive Director James Perry comments, “The terms of the agreements that the Parish entered into today- valued at over $2.5 million- indicate that Parish attitudes towards fair housing responsibilities have changed drastically as a result of our ongoing work over the course of the last seven years.  The monetary settlement between the Parish, GNOFHAC and nine individual plaintiffs will make those harmed by the PUP process whole again.  The comprehensive USDOJ settlement agreement with the Parish is incredibly detailed and has the potential to make great strides in ensuring that everyone seeking to make a home in St. Bernard has an equal opportunity to do so.”

Reed Colfax and Jamie Crook of Relman, Dane and Colfax PLLC managed the litigation on GNOFHAC’s behalf.

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The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) is a private nonprofit organization. GNOFHAC is dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination and furthering equal housing opportunities through education, outreach, advocacy, and enforcement of fair housing laws across the metro New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas. The activities described in this release were privately funded.

Louisiana Home Protection Act headed for Senate floor!

The Louisiana Home Protection Act sailed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday and is now headed for the Senate floor! Please take a moment right now to help prevent needless foreclosures.

If passed, the bill would improve homeownership protection by making information available about free housing counseling or legal services for homeowners facing sheriff’s sale.

Medicaid Expansion Clears House Committee

Safe, decent and affordable housing is important to health outcomes, just as access to better medicine and preventative care are.  Yesterday, Rep. Smith cleared her Medicaid Expansion bill out of the Committee on Health and Welfare.  Click here to read why Medicaid expansion is crucial to promoting housing opportunity.  Then take action to expand coverage for 422,000 Louisianians.

Image: Spring Johnson

In late April, we were shocked and saddened to hear that a GNOFHAC client, Ms. Jones,*  had lost her home and all of her family’s possessions when the apartment that she and her five children had been living in was destroyed in a fire.

GNOFHAC first began working with Ms. Jones when she came to us after being evicted from her home shortly after filing a police report against her landlord for severe sexual harassment.   Ms. Jones’ account of the property owner’s brazen behavior was shocking, and a thorough investigation conducted by our Enforcement Team revealed that she was not the only tenant who had been abused by this landlord.

GNOFHAC staff soon discovered that this property owner had a lengthy history of sexually harassing his tenants:  several women reported that he had attempted to exchange rent for sexual favors, engaged in lewd behaviors in front of them and their young children, and often let himself into their apartments uninvited.  Although this landlord owned over 20 properties, he limited his abuse to his most vulnerable renters:  single women (some with young children to care for) who had fallen behind on rent and would have difficulty securing other housing.  Thanks to Ms. Jones’ bravery, we’ve filed a complaint in federal court on behalf of her and other renters and are working to prevent this property owner from illegally harassing future tenants.

After leaving the home where she was being harassed, Ms. Jones and her five children relocated to a small town in northern Louisiana for a new start.  Unfortunately, last month, a house fire broke out in the apartment that she and her children were living in, rendering the property unlivable.  Thankfully, no one was home at the time of the fire, but the family lost their home and all of their belongings.  The Red Cross generously paid for the family’s brief emergency stay in a local motel, and our office was able to assist Ms. Jones in quickly securing a Section 8 voucher.  The Jones family is currently searching for a new home and is working hard to return to normal.

In the meantime, the family is staying in temporary housing and needs some help getting back on their feet.  If you are able, please join us in supporting Ms. Jones as she and her children work to recover from this disaster. Through your generosity, you can help ensure that Ms. Jones and her family are able to rebuild their lives, replace their belongings, and get back to normal as quickly as possible.  Click here to contribute.

UPDATE – 5/24/13:  Ms. Jones and her children have secured a new home with the Section 8 voucher we helped her to obtain.  The Jones family has been so touched by the outpouring of generous donations and support from our friends from around the state, and would like to say thank you to all those who’ve reached out.

*Name changed for privacy.

GNOFHAC hosts a number of free events throughout the year.  To get the latest information on upcoming events, sign up for our e-list and like us on Facebook!

The main attraction

 GNOFHAC staff and guests digging in!

 GNOFHAC’s James Perry chats with NOLA City Councilmember LaToya Cantrell

Education Coordinator Sophie Rosen with Fair Housing Five illustrator Sharika Mahdi Neville

Board members Sara Meadows Tolleson and Wendy Hickok Robinson chat with friends

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate National Fair Housing Month with us!  Click here to see the full album.

The work of health programs (such as Medicaid) and housing programs (such as those administered by HUD) intersect.  For example, HUD partnerships with state Medicaid agencies to help people with disabilities move from institutional care to community living improves outcomes for everyone, including fiscal hawks concerned about rising expenses on both the medical and shelter sides.

In other states, Medicaid agencies have partnered with homeless services to provide on-site recovery and respite for people in medical recovery that would otherwise return to the streets (and probably the hospital).  By partnering health and housing services, the patient receives adequate care that creates long term benefits and avoids repeat medical care.

Finally, when more people are insured, they are less likely to be devastated by medical expenses that in turn endanger their housing stability.  Without the financial break-down that unexpected medical expenses can bring, families are better able to accrue savings, move into lower poverty neighborhoods and access the kinds of opportunity that these moves create.

Governor Jindal must know that health care insurance is a good thing because he and his family have it.  If Medicaid expansion passed, 422,000 other families in Louisiana would have it, too.

Take action here and urge Governor Jindal and the Louisiana State Legislature to expand Medicaid to help families throughout the state!

The Road Home decided in 2008 that rather than have homeowners elevate their homes and then be reimbursed for elevation work, every applicant who chose to rebuild could get a flat $30,000 for elevation. It did not matter if:

1. The house even needed to be raised

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2. If the cost would far exceed the paltry sum of $30,000, which in most cases it did.

Predictably, homeowners struggling to get back in their homes after Katrina took the money. Most probably figured they were using the money to fix their homes anyway, and already felt shortchanged by the Road Home Program.  Others had probably heard about the mysterious Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), and thought they would be able to combine that $100,000 grant with the Road Home elevation money, thus having no problem getting their home raised.

Of course, none of these things happened. $30,000 was clearly never enough to elevate, and thousands of homeowners found out they weren’t eligible for the HMGP. The average elevation cost is around $80,000, and with HMGP paying up to $100,000, many building contactors raised their prices even higher to get the most money they could. Some homeowners took the $30,000, and then found out later their houses didn’t even need to be raised, which would be quite a shock after taking on 6 feet of water during Katrina. If a house was already raised above FEMA’s base flood elevation level when Katrina hit, then the state and FEMA would say there is no need to raise it any more. Hard to believe, especially when I see houses in neighborhoods that didn’t even flood jacked up 10 feet.

The state says they’re working to get people in compliance.  In their code, that means trying to collect that money back from homeowners who didn’t elevate. But that’s just another chapter in the long book of the blame game that has played out for Katrina survivors over the last several years.  Thousands already have been forced to pay back money to FEMA they apparently didn’t deserve, and now it appears the State is going to do the same.

How about considering forgiveness?

The State never should have given this money out in the manner it did, and probably only did so because of pressure to get more money on the street, so it ought to shoulder most of the blame. If anyone is going to have to pay the money back to the federal government, let the State of Louisiana, or its multimillion dollar private partner ICF International foot the bill.  Not the struggling homeowners who were supposed to be the beneficiaries of this twisted Kafkaesque nightmare called the Road Home.

April 2013 events include:

- Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST Training: April 5, 2013, 8:30am-4pm at the AIA New Orleans Center for Design, 1000 St. Charles Avenue (Lee Circle).  The training is based on HUD’s Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST Initiative and will be led by two experts that designed the original program: Expert accessibility trainer Scott Moore and HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement Sara Pratt.  The training is free and open to the public, but registration is required.  Lunch will be provided. Housing developers, architects, and attorneys are especially encouraged to attend.  Three hours of CLE credit are available to participating attorneys; AIA New Orleans CEU credits are pending.

- Mapping Discrimination Presentation and Conversation: April 10, 2013, 6-8:30pm, Special Tea NOLA Tea Lounge & Coffee Shop, 4337 Banks Street.  GNOFHAC staff will present and discuss maps that spatially analyze complaints GNOFHAC received from 2007 through 2012 throughout Louisiana and the greater New Orleans area.  The discussion will address trends that the maps reveal and their relationships to federal, state, and local policy.  Finally, staff and attendees will discuss how this information can be used to further fair housing work in the greater New Orleans area.

- GNOFHAC Open House: April 17, 2013, 5:30-7:30pm, GNOFHAC Offices, 404 S. Jeff Davis Pkwy.  Join GNOFHAC staff and board for a“Knowledge is Power” Open House to find out more about GNOFHAC’s work and how you can get involved.  Light refreshments will be served.

- Spirit House: April 19, 2013, 6pm-9pm, Dryades Theater, 1232 Oretha C. Haley Blvd.  Spirit House is an original, multimedia piece of theater that combines research and testimony collected by GNOFHAC and community partners.  GNOFHAC commissioned project writer Dr. Geryll Robinson to examine the impact of exclusionary housing policy and practices on women and families through theater, and Spirit House investigates the intersections between sex, gender, race, class and sexual orientation in experiences of finding housing and defining “home.” On April 19th, GNOFHAC, working with New Orleans-based Cripple Creek Theater Company, will produce a staged reading of the piece for free to the public.  The staged reading is free, but tickets must be reserved by registering hereor calling (504) 596-2100, ext 109.

- Welcome to Our Neighborhood Workshop for Kids: April 20, 2013, 12:30-2pm at Rosa F. Keller Public Library.  GNOFHAC staff will facilitate an interactive reading of the Center’s illustrated children’s book The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House and lead an art project with workshop participants to further explore themes addressed in the book.  This workshop is free and open to the public, appropriate for 1st-4th graders.  The New Orleans Public Library is not a sponsor, nor does it endorse any practices or points of view of the sponsors of this program.

GNOFHAC Executive Director James Perry comments “Fair Housing Month is a great time for all members of the greater New Orleans community to learn about and reflect on the value of communities free of discrimination and segregation.  We hope to make this possible through this robust series of events.”

The Fair Housing Act protects against discrimination in housing on the basis of a person’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or whether or not a person has children.

• Refusing to grant Oxford House a reasonable accommodation to its Unified Development Code (UDC);
• Engaging in intentional discrimination against Oxford House because of their association with disabled persons;
• Enforcing a facially discriminatory zoning provision in the form of its “Special Homes” ordinance;
• Retaliating against the plaintiffs after they filed a fair housing complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a fair housing lawsuit in federal court.

Documents uncovered as a result of the case indicate that the City of Baton Rouge has an extensive history of enforcing a zoning ordinance that is facially discriminatory against people with disabilities, and that City officials demonstrated intentional discrimination by attempting to use the UDC to shut Oxford Houses down in response to complaints from constituents.

In 2011, the City of Baton Rouge notified and then filed suit in state court against the owners of two Oxford Houses in Baton Rouge claiming that the houses were in violation of the UDC because more than two unrelated persons were living in a single-family home zoned as A-1.  Oxford House, with the assistance of Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC), filed a fair housing complaint and lawsuit against the City, after the City denied multiple reasonable accommodation requests from Oxford House in relation to the two properties.  Under the Fair Housing Act, residents of Oxford Houses are considered to be people with disabilities.

Oxford House, Inc. is a nation-wide network of group homes for persons recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. All Oxford Houses adhere to three major concepts: they are financially self-supporting, democratically run, and evict any resident that returns to active substance use. Individual Oxford Houses create a family atmosphere to allow residents to benefit from the therapeutic support of their peers in helping them stay clean and sober and recover from their addictions.

GNOFHAC attorneys and Oxford House’s General Counsel are representing the plaintiffs in the case.

GNOFHAC Executive Director James Perry remarks, “People recovering from addiction need a stable, supportive environment in order to be successful.  Oxford Houses offer this important resource, and also safeguard the surrounding neighborhood by strictly enforcing a no tolerance eviction policy should any resident return to substance abuse.  We are pleased with Judge Brady’s ruling because it upholds the civil rights of people with disabilities, and hope that the City of Baton Rouge will work assiduously to do the same moving forward.”

To read Judge Brady’s ruling granting Oxford House’s Motion for Summary Judgment, click here.