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LOCAL FILMMAKERS WIN AWARD FOR SHORT FILM ON THE DEMOLITION OF PUBLIC HOUSING
This past weekend, "St. Joe", an experimental short on the demolition of public housing by local filmmaker Luisa Dantas, was awarded the prize of "Best Short" by the Patois: 6th Annual New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival jury! "St. Joe" is also just a small part of an ongoing multi-platform documentary project. More at http://www.joluproductions.com.
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GNOFHAC ATTORNEY QUOTED IN ARTICLE ON NIMBY-ISM IN NEW ORLEANS EAST
"An affordable housing proposal that has produced vehement opposition from residents of the upscale Lake Carmel subdivision in eastern New Orleans resulted in a 4-4 vote at a City Planning Commission meeting this week. ... Lucia Blacksher, an attorney for the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, said the city has a dire need for affordable housing and warned that efforts by public officials to block projects such as Foley's could violate the federal Fair Housing Act."
3-25-09 Read the Times Picayune article here
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER CALLS ON GOVERNOR JINDAL TO ACCEPT ALL STIMULUS PACKAGE FUNDS
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has said that he will not accept all of the funding set aside for Louisiana in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that President Obama recently signed into law. Please contact Gov. Jindal today and demand that he accept all of the nearly $4 billion dedicated to Louisiana!
Specifically, Governor Jindal has rejected $98 million in increased unemployment benefits. In the face of a slow recovery from hurricanes across the southern part of the state, a high unemployment rate, and high foreclosure rate, Louisiana needs the expanded unemployment assistance offered in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009!
2-26-09 Contact Governor Jindal NOW.
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST ST BERNARD PARISH; PARISH MUST RESCIND MORATORIUM
On March 25, 2009, the Honorable Judge Helen G. Berrigan granted the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center's (GNOFHAC) motion seeking enforcement of a Consent Order entered on February 7, 2008 in Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center v. St. Bernard Parish et al, Case No. 06-7185, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.
The February 27, 2008 Consent Order resolved GNOFHAC's challenge to a multi-family moratorium St. Bernard enacted immediately after Hurricane Katrina, as well as an ordinance that restricted the rental of single-family residences in St. Bernard Parish to those related by blood to the owner of the property.
3-25-09 Read the full press release here
3-25-09 Read the Judge's decision here
3-25-09 Read the Times Picayune article "Federal judge rules against St. Bernard Parish in multi-family housing lawsuit" here
3-27-09 Read the Times Picayune article "Parish's Housing Ban Gets Tossed" here
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER SEEKS REPEAL OF ST. BERNARD PARISH MULTI-FAMILY MORATORIUM
The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) filed a motion today seeking enforcement of a Consent Order entered on February 27, 2008, in Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center v. St. Bernard Parish et al, Case No. 06-7185, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. GNOFHAC’s motion alleges that St. Bernard Parish’s recently enacted moratorium on multi-family housing violates the Consent Order, which enjoins the Parish from violating the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws that prohibit race discrimination.
12-18-08 Read the press release here
12-18-08 Read more about the St. Bernard case here
3-11-09 Lawsuit goes to court. Read the Times Picayune press coverage here and here
New! Timeline of St. Bernard Parish case
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FAIR HOUSING AND CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT IN POST-KATRINA HOUSING DISCRIMINATION CASE
Washington, DC and New Orleans, LA (November 12, 2008) Today civil rights and fair housing groups filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The suit alleges that the Road Home, Louisiana's Hurricane Katrina recovery program, discriminates against African-American homeowners in New Orleans.
The Road Home, an $11 billion federally-funded program, is the largest housing redevelopment program in U.S. history. The suit is being filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of five individuals representing a class of more than 20,000 African-American homeowners and two fair housing organizations, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center and the National Fair Housing Alliance.
11-12-08 Read the full press release
11-12-08 Download a copy of the Road Home fact sheet
11-12-08 Download a copy of the complaint
11-12-08 Listen to a recording of the press conference
11-14-08 Watch a video of the November 12th press conference
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JAMES PERRY TESTIFIES BEFORE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION
On July 31, 2008 James Perry testified before the National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity organized by the National Fair Housing Alliance, Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Commission has scheduled hearings in 5 cities and will present its findings on fair housing enforcement to Congress in December. Check back soon for a copy of James' testimony.
7-31-08 Watch James Perry on Houston's FOX News station here.
7-31-08 Read about the Commission in the Houston Chronicle here.
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GOVERNOR VETOES ABRAMSON APPROPRIATION FOR UNITY OF GREATER NEW ORLEANS
On July 14 the office of Neil Abramson, State Representative from District 98, released a statement concerning Governor Jindal's veto iof Abramson's appropriation request of $50,000 to go to UNITY of Greater New Orleans, an organization that provides services, emergency shelter, and permanent housing to New Orleans' homeless population. Recently UNITY has been instrumental in placing hundreds of homeless people living under the Claiborne Ave. I-10 overpass in stable housing. The release states that the $50,000 request, part of a larger $30 billion appropriations bill, would have helped house 44 people, a critical step forward at a time when New Orleans is facing an affordable housing shortage of historical proportions.
Contact Governor Jindal here.
Contact Representative Abramson here. Visit his webpage here.
Read more about the homelessness crisis in New Orleans here. (Article from the March 17, 2008 issue of USA Today )
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ACTION ALERT: PROPOSED LEGISLATION VIOLATES THE FAIR HOUSING ACT BY MAKING IT ILLEGAL TO HOUSE OR SHELTER UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
The Louisiana state legislature is considering several pieces of legislation that complicate things for undocumented immigrants. While all of the bills are troublesome, two stand out in the housing front. House bills 1357 and 1365 seek to make it illegal to house or shelter undocumented immigrants. If passed, the bill would facilitate illegal discrimination. Even well-intentioned landlords would be forced to engage in illegal racial profiling in order to comply with the law. It is GNOFHAC’s position that the bill is illegal. In fact, similar bills have been struck down in other states and cities. We ask that you contact your state legislator and ask them to vote against the bill.
5-20-08: To read the two bills click here, scroll down to "Bill Search," enter "HB 1357" or "HB 1365" and hit "view."
5-30-08: Read the Times Picayune editorial, entitled "Wasting Time", here.
6-04-08: Read the Times Picayune article, "Immigrant Bill Hits Senate Panel Snag", here.
Click the links for a list of legislators (House and Senate). Click here a sample letter/email.
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ACTION ALERT: KENNER'S BAN ON MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING HAS DISCRIMINATORY EFFECT
In April, the City of Kenner passed a ban on the construction of multi-family housing. Census data demonstrates that Latinos, African-Americans, families with children and people with disabilities rely most heavily on muli-family rental housing. The reliance stems from the fact that multi-family housing is more likely to be affordable. Plus, for people with physical disabilities, multi-family housing is the only housing required by law to be accessible for people with disabilities. As a result Kenner’s ban on the construction of apartment housing is having a discriminatory effect. We ask you to join us in advocating that the Kenner City Council reverse its decision.
4-4-08: Read the Fair Housing Center's press release on the Kenner moratorium here.
4-11-08: Read the Times Picayune article stating our opinion here.
Click here for a link with Council contact information. Click here for sample letters/emails that you can send to the Kenner City Council.
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GNOFHAC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TESTIFIES BEFORE US CONGRESS ABOUT GULF COAST RECOVERY AND THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM
On Thursday, May 8, 2008, GNOFHAC Executive Director James Perry testified before the House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development about the role of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after the 2005 hurricanes and the extent to which local and state governments have failed to use this funding in a way that affirmatively furthers fair housing. Under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development provides CDBG funding to cities and counties in order to “carry out a wide range of community development activities directed toward revitalizing neighborhoods, economic development, and providing improved community facilities and services.” Since the 2005 storms, HUD has provided over $16 billion in CDBG funds to affected areas which have funded a myriad of rebuilding programs, including the Road Home program.
5-6-08: Read the press release here.
5-8-08: Read James Perry's testimony here.
5-8-08: Listen audio from the testimony here.
5-8-08: Read Ariella Cohen's brief on the testimony in City Business here.
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