When some of NOLA’s officials announced this week that there would be stipulations on who could return to the public housing projects (like the Iberville), Polimom’s jaw hit the floor.
It’s not that I don’t understand what they’re thinking. I do – and it makes sense in many ways. Housing there is extremely limited, and New Orleans is broke, with correspondingly limited social services and infrastructure. Furthermore, pre-Katrina public housing was the source of a number of ongoing problems for the city, not the least of which was crime, and obviously NOLA would like to avoid that. (We all would!)
No, Polimom didn’t have any trouble seeing the New Orleans side of the equation. What I couldn’t visualize, though, was host cities like Houston going along with the plan… and sure enough, some don’t like it:
The news that some New Orleans City Council members weren’t keen on the city’s poorest returning home added another layer of discomfort in Houston, where local residents and elected officials alike have stretched to meet the needs of thousands of Louisiana residents in the months after Hurricane Katrina.
Chief among the complaints: Houston didn’t discriminate when New Orleanians — from the poorest to the richest — filled this city’s homes, hotels, motels and shelters. And Houston didn’t flinch when nearly 100,000 evacuees needed subsidized housing for up to a year. So why, asked one Houston city councilman, are only the educated, healthy and employable welcome back in New Orleans?
That’s a great question, but it’s somewhat short-sighted, I’m afraid. In truth, Houston has a much more robust economy, more affordable housing, and nearly unlimited opportunity for almost everyone – including those who came from New Orleans without skills or work histories.
Councilman Khan evidently needs to spend some time visiting New Orleans, so he can more clearly understand the challenges they are facing. When he returns from his illuminating journey, Polimom hopes he – and all of Houston – will put their full efforts into plans like these:
A major component of this initiative, city officials said, has been reaching out to those evacuees in Houston apartments to help them obtain job skills and find employment.
“Our overwhelming concern is one of helping people get back on their feet, and then helping them find a job,” Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. “That’s what the Houston mentality is, this is a working town.”
Yes indeed. That’s precisely what Houston is.
Polimom thinks Houston should be taking a closer look at how well our new residents are doing. It should be obvious by now that if a strong-bodied person is still not working, there’s a reason, and whether the gap is education, marketable skills, appropriate attire, or transportation, Houston needs to help close it… because New Orleans flat-out doesn’t have the bandwidth to help these folks. Not today, not tomorrow, and probably not for a number of years to come.
They’re here to stay, Houston, one way or another. Let’s make some lemonade!
Update: Sure ’nuff… Houston doesn’t like it (or at least the Houstonist doesn’t). Note, though, that I’ve added this blog to the slowly (oh so ponderously) growing Houston links.