New Orleans leaders to build new homeless shelter in Mid-City. See details
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE and JAMES FINN
Two weeks after Gov. Jeff Landry opened a temporary homeless shelter in New Orleans to some local criticism, city leaders have signed off on plans to build a new city-run shelter for 65 people living on the street.
The move, which is months or more away from being realized, is an apparent pivot from earlier city efforts to move homeless people from encampments to permanent housing, the pace of which has been criticized by Landry and his allies.
City officials on Thursday said the new shelter – which will offer temporary apartment-style living when it is eventually built – will help address a longstanding shortage of beds available for homeless people.
"There's a strong need and political will to solve the homeless issue in New Orleans and provide wrap around services and housing for our residents," said Tyler Russell, director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Assets and Investment.
The plan, pitched by Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration and approved Thursday by the City Council, would see the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, a public agency tasked with revitalizing city neighborhoods, select within six months a developer that will design and eventually construct a temporary shelter.
The apartment-style shelter, the first of its kind in the city, would be built on a vacant lot between South Gayoso and South Dupre streets, which before Hurricane Katrina housed the city’s former crime lab.
Homeless services providers say that such shelters --- officially non-congregate shelters -- can be a better option for some homeless residents, especially those with mental illness who may struggle to share close quarters. City officials have also acknowledged that more “transitional” support is needed before some with mental illness are stable enough to be permanently housed.
Cantrell's administration will dedicate $8 million in federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funds to develop the site. It will also reimburse the redevelopment authority up to more than $880,000 annually to oversee the site.
The developer selected by the redevelopment authority will be tasked with securing other project financing.
The move comes at a time when other shelters in the city – such as those operated by The New Orleans Mission, Ozanam Inn, and the city’s 296-bed low-barrier homeless shelter – are at capacity almost every night. Those facilities are also all shared living spaces, not apartment-style living.
The decision also comes as Landry and his supporters have criticized the speed of the city’s effort to permanently move people off of the streets. A spokesperson for Landry said she did not have enough information on the project to comment Thursday night.
Meanwhile, critics of Landry's temporary 200-bed shelter have questioned the state spending -- up to $16 million for three months of operation -- on a shelter, rather than permanent housing.
City Councilmember Lesli Harris has blasted that shelter as lacking needed services, though shelter officials dispute her claims.
Harris, who sponsored the proposal for the city's shelter at Cantrell's request, said the project was "a win for the city of New Orleans and will provide much needed housing for some of the city's most vulnerable population."
