Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures (Aug. 29, 2005)

1. POST-KATRINA SUPPORTIVE-HOUSING INITIATIVES:Bringing the most vulnerable New Orleanians homeCreative solutions to housing the homelessand giving them supportive services

2. Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures (Aug. 29, 2005) • 1,800 people died immediately or in aftermath • 200,000 housing units destroyed, including 51,000 rentals in New Orleans alone • Rents skyrocketed, with FMR more than doubling immediately • Family networks were shattered, as hundreds of thousands of people scattered across nation, many displaced long-term. • Almost complete destruction of New Orleans’ physical infrastructure and infrastructure of government, nonprofits and healthcare system.

3. Homelessness exploded after Katrina • Homeless population more than quadrupled • 11,619 homeless on any given night in 2007, compared with 2,051 before Katrina • Percentage of homeless people with a disability double the national rate • Percentage of homeless people who are elderly four times the national rate

4. Thousands of homeless lived in the city’s countless abandoned buildings

5. Homelessness has fallensince high in 2007Drop due primarily to TARGETEd housing programs, coupled with recovery programs

6. Louisiana Permanent Supportive Housing Program • Idea initiated about a month after Katrina by state of Louisiana, UNITY, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Technical Assistance Collaborative, and Common Ground Community (now Community Solutions) • Idea was to ensure that most vulnerable residents of New Orleans and other Katrina-impacted area would not have to be homeless as they returned to their communities and that we would rebuild New Orleans as an inclusive community despite many countervailing forces • 3,025 units of PSH for people with disabilities at or below 30 percent AMI. Broad eligibility with theme of integration • State’s first PSH program

7. Financing of Louisiana’s PSH Program • 1,025 Shelter Plus Care vouchers for disabled homeless and 2000 Project-Based Section 8 vouchers -- special allocation attained from U.S. Congress after a 2-½ year lobbying battle led by UNITY, state, Senator Landrieu, and our partners • $72.7 million in hurricane recovery CDBG funds set aside as 5 years of supportive services, with Medicaid paying for these services long term • Capital financing in the form of hurricane recovery LIHTC and CDBG funds: all projects must set aside 5 percent of units as PSH and incentivized to do more • New Section 811 grant will bring the program statewide in 2013

8. UNITY-Community Solutions partnership: to create integrated PSH buildings meeting needs of chronically homeless • Community Solutions is a national nonprofit that redeveloped the Times Square Hotel into supportive housing • Model focuses on housing those homeless people most likely to die if not housed

9. Evidence-based housing + services • For years, homeless advocates fed and sheltered the homeless until they were “housing ready” • Then researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that a small number of adults were “chronically homeless” and were disproportionately costly to society, through use of public services such as shelters, ER beds and jails • A pioneering housing program showed that the chronic homeless did better if housed first, then kept housed with wraparound services, a concept called “Housing First.” • A growing body of research shows that PSH programs are cost-effective, because use of public services decreases drastically.

11. An initiative that saves lives • At their root, UNITY’s buildings save lives. Pioneering homeless-services physician Dr. James O'Connell found that, on average, homeless people die 30 years earlier than housed people. • It’s a vicious cycle -- poor health can be a cause of homelessness. Homelessness also deteriorates health, since homeless people living outside have difficulty adhering to doctor-prescribed treatment.

12. Social impact of UNITY’s initiative Lower-cost, long-lasting solutions to homelessness • Supportive Housing costs less than half of shelter based approaches – and is an alternate to high-cost outcomes such as extended stays in hospitals, institutions and jail cells. Increased Supply of Affordable Housing • Rents are affordable to low-income works and and those on a fixed incomes because of a disability. New Orleans has a significant unmet need of this housing type. Creation of Community Assets and Benefits • Housing development can generate 10 – 25 new jobs per building – excluding construction. Our buildings include retail space and community amenities. Pioneering Use of Sustainable, Healthy Design • Our housing can recycle buildings and transform underutilized sites into facilities that are models of healthy, high-impact, cost-efficient, sustainable design.

13. 2222 Tulane Avenue Before Images of Neighborhood

14. 2222 Tulane After:The Rosa F. Keller Building

15. The Rosa F. Keller Building:A mixed-income model • Integrated, mixed-income housing for formerly homeless disabled persons and low-income workers • Includes 60 affordable apartments—30 for low-wage workers – the backbone of New Orleans’ tourist economy -- and 30 for formerly homeless persons, who also receive on-site case-management services • Through evidence-based use of PSH, it ends homelessness for even the most frail homeless • It also prevents homelessness of low-income workers through deeply affordable apartments

16. Outdoor Space

17. Typical Unit Plan

18. Interior

19. Mr. Ben Wallace

20. Second building under constructionat 2101 Louisiana Ave., in New Orleans- 42 apartments

21. Third building about to start construction3222 Canal St., New Orleans108 apartments

22. Contact Information Martha J. Kegel Executive Director mkegel@unitygno.org (504) 821-4496, Ext. 109 www.unitygno.org www.housinglink.org www.facebook.com/unitygno.org