With homelessness returning to pre-pandemic levels and encampments sprouting up along major thoroughfares, New Orleans-area leaders and federal officials on Monday announced new funding they say will result in dramatic improvements for hundreds of people currently living on the streets.
A total of $30 million will become available this year to provide housing and healthcare for 420 people lacking shelter in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, officials said. Half of that amount will come from a Department of Housing and Urban Development grant, which will be used for rent payments and nightly hotel rates, street outreach and supportive services.
Health care providers are committing another $14 million in the form of medical care and mental health services for newly housed individuals. Private donors will kick in $1 million for the effort.
The number of people set to receive housing and health care exceeds the number of unsheltered people identified in the last annual “point in time” count of people living on the street conducted by UNITY of Greater New Orleans, which coordinates homeless services.
“This was our moonshot,” said retired Judge Calvin Johnson, who helped convene a community task force on street homelessness last year. “Today, it landed.”
Housing first The funding is aligned with the “housing first” approach to combating homelessness, which prioritizes stable housing before addressing other concerns like drug addiction or unemployment. Unity’s executive director, Martha Kegel, said 95% of the people who receive permanent housing and supportive services through Unity’s network of providers remain housed five years later.
There are no hard-and-fast rules for how long any individual can continue receiving support, Kegel said, though expectations for self-sufficiency will vary according to ability. The new funding will nearly triple the number of people Unity and its partners are able to house in its first year, Kegel said.
“We do things on a very individualized basis. This whole thing is like an emergency room triage,” Kegel said. “People have complex problems.”
Some of the new housing assistance will come from new housing vouchers distributed through federally recognized housing authorities in New Orleans, Kenner and Jefferson Parish. The Housing Authority of New Orleans will receive 150 vouchers, and it’s not yet clear how many the others will get, officials said.
The total value of the housing vouchers was not included in the funding amounts announced on Monday.
The health care providers are contributing “in kind” donations of primary and specialized care for diabetes, cardiology and pulmonary care. For example, Ochsner Health System will cover 21 monthly primary care visits over the course of the three-year grant, as well as transportation and digital medicine enrollment, said Dr. Yvens Laborde, medical director of public health.