Busy Week to Save Charity and its Community

This past week was busy in New Orleans. Just as the rain came down in a big way on Thursday afternoon, two pivotal decisions for healthcare access and the recovery of the Crescent City were handed down over the course of this week.

On May 20th the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Charity Hospital and the adjacent neighborhood to its list of the 11 Most Endangered historic sites in the nation. Each year, the Trust lists eleven sites that are of historic importance and in danger of being lost. This past Tuesday, Charity Hospital was added to that list in a move that may prove to be monumental in the fight to preserve the Art Deco building on Tulane Avenue, and the surrounding community.

Just a few months ago LSU announced plans to demolish not only Big Charity, which LSU deemed unfit to house a medical facility, but also around 200 homes in the adjacent neighborhood that fell into the "footprint" for development of a new medical complex. The decision to further displace many families who already suffered the trauma of the initial displacement of Katrina is all the more controversial because of the existence of a nearby site that is uninhabited. Many of these homes were built before 1880, and warrant the same protection as other treasured historic sites in the city. This battle to save the neighborhood has been arduous for the many residents who are committed to retuning to their homes. A city ordinance has been enacted to deny many homeowners building permits to begin re-construction of their homes. Some residents had returned to their homes prior to that ordinance, so streets like Palmyra, where the Trust held its press conference announcing Charity's inclusion in their 11 Most Endangered list, have spotty re-development if at all.

There are residents in exile who are determined to return home, and continue to live in their neighborhood that families have called home for generations, yet they are being blocked from doing so by the same government who called for them to return home when the outlook for the future of the city was at its bleakest. To paraphrase the remarks of one resident, those that have called the neighborhood adjacent to Big Charity home have been left hanging in the air, unsure of whether to stay, go, or sell.

This announcement adds yet another voice to the call to save Charity and the neighborhood that surrounds it. Walter Gallas, director of the New Orleans field office of the Trust remarked that LSU needs to have transparent plans for the development of this area, as many of the proceedings to this point have been shrouded in secrecy. He also commented that this battle to preserve the area and the hospital is not an attempt to block progress and preclude the population from obtaining 21st century health care, however there should be responsible development that does not disadvantage residents, but engages them.

On Friday morning, two key decisions were handed down in Orleans Parish Civil District Court. The first hearing for the litigation against the LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans for the closure of Charity Hospital was held in Civil District Court this morning. The defense argued that the wrong party was being sued, and that the LSU Board of Supervisors should be named defendant in the suit instead of LSUHSCNO, and as such the case should be heard in East Baton Rouge Parish instead of Orleans. Judge Ethel Simms-Julien disagreed on both counts, ruling that the correct party was named in the suit and that the case will be heard in Orleans Parish. Among the reasons cited by attorneys for the plaintiffs was the fact that all of the operative decisions, actions and facts related to the case took place in New Orleans.

After the successful hearing an informational session was held to give a summary of the day's developments and to discuss the ongoing process of the suit. Tracie Washington, LJI President and CEO introduced to the audience the attorneys working on the Charity litigation, and discussed how this case ties hand-in-hand with the organizing and preservation work for Charity and the surrounding community.

During the session Leonard Aragon and LJI's Steve Jupiter cautioned that though today's rulings are a step in the right direction, there is much work left to be done. In summarizing the current health legislation, Brad Ott noted, "Healthcare is being paraded as a commodity that we have to buy and sell," however health is an inalienable human right that should be afforded to all. To close the meeting, Steve Rosenfeld stated that though the legal argument in this case is a good one, "a good legal argument by itself never toppled a large institution." Rosenfeld stressed that in order to prevail; a coalition of concerned citizens must join together and provide a human face. That coalition should not be comprised solely of New Orleanians, but residents from around the state.

Charity Hospital Action This Friday, May 23!

This Friday, May 23, we will convene to discuss our current litigation to replace the care that was lost with the closure of Charity Hospital and to give an overiview of our vision of the future of healthcare reform in Louisiana.

Where: McKenna Museum of African American Art

2003 Carondelet St.

New Orleans Louisiana

When: May 23, 2008

Please RSVP to sarina@louisianajusticeinstitute.org. For questions and more information please call: Louisiana Justice Institute (504) 872-9134.

Firm to determine whether Charity can be restored
Independent study will examine building
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
By Jan Moller
The Times Picayune

BATON ROUGE -- An internationally renowned architecture firm has been hired to conduct what some are describing as the first independent study of whether Charity Hospital can be restored into a viable health-care facility after sustaining major damage from Hurricane Katrina.

The Foundation for Historical Louisiana has tapped RMJM Hillier, a Philadelphia company, to examine the potential cost and viability of bringing back the Depression-era Art Deco building on Tulane Avenue on a temporary or permanent basis.

Sandra Stokes, the foundation's executive vice chairwoman, said previous studies commissioned by Louisiana State University, which operated the hospital before it was mothballed after Katrina, have focused on the damage done to the building by the hurricane and subsequent flooding.

"There have been no structural assessments looking at the building as a whole," Stokes said.

The assessment comes at a critical time for LSU, which is planning to build a $1.2 billion, 484-bed replacement for Charity Hospital in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

A business plan for the proposed new hospital is under review by the state Department of Health and Hospitals.

The new study could potentially provide a boost to community activists who have long maintained that an independent study would show the hospital can be reopened quicker and at less cost than building a new hospital.

LSU officials have said the building was in disrepair and in need of replacement even before Katrina, and that the hurricane rendered it permanently unusable for delivering health care. "We think the building was fatally damaged by the hurricane," said Charles Zewe, a spokesman for the LSU System.

Stokes said the study, which is privately financed, was prompted by House Concurrent Resolution 89, which the Legislature approved in 2006. According to the resolution, the study will first look at whether the bottom three floors of the 1 million-square-foot building can be reopened on a temporary basis.

But Zewe said LSU wouldn't have enough staff to operate a new temporary hospital. The school has reopened about 230 beds at University Hospital and a network of outpatient clinics since the storm, but Zewe said University could have 350 beds in operation if enough doctors, nurses and technicians were available.

RMJM Hillier's previous restoration projects include the U.S. Supreme Court and the Payne-Whitney Gymnasium at Yale University. Stokes said the review is expected to begin next week and will take about three months to complete.
. . . . . . .
Jan Moller can be reached at jmoller@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-5207.

Congrats, Lauren!

LJI's staff attorney, Lauren Bartlett, has written an article published by the April 2008 issue of American Jurist. Her article, "Perspectives: 100,000 Victims of FEMA" is available here. Keep up the great work, Lauren!

NO WAY TO TREAT OUR PEOPLE: FEMA Trailer Residents 30 Months after Katrina

The Louisiana Justice Institute and the Children's Defense Fund released a report on the dire circumstances of residents still living in FEMA trailers over two years after Katrina on Wednesday April 30, 2008. We held a press conference at the Children's Defense Fund office that morning, which was well attended by local advocates, community members and the press. Please see below for some photos of the press conference.

To download a copy of the report or any of our other publications, please go to:
http://www.louisianajusticeinstitute.org/publications.

Louisiana Justice Institute To Release Report on Residents Still Living in FEMA Trailers More Than Two Years After Katrina

Louisiana Justice Institute (LJI), in partnership with the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), will release their public report on the dire circumstances of residents still living in FEMA trailers over two years after Katrina. A press conference will be held at the CDF offices at 1452 N. Broad Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, at 10 a.m. tomorrow,Wednesday April 30, 2008.

In early January 2008, LJI and CDF coordinated an interview and outreach project aimed at FEMA trailer residents across Louisiana. With the help of law student volunteers, our organizations conducted outreach to over 500 residents and interviewed over 150 residents. This report contains an analysis of the data gathered, as well as stories from the residents themselves.

According to the report to be officially released on Wednesday, the majority of residents living in FEMA trailers are employed. Residents living in FEMA trailers also tend to be older, with an emphasis on the elderly and disabled. 55% of residents interviewed were 50 years old or older and 22% were 62 years and older, and almost 40% reported that someone living in their trailer had “special needs” including a disability.

In addition, many residents reported health problems. Fifteen percent (15%) of the residents interviewed reported they were suffering from depression, anxiety, other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues. In addition, 29% reported rashes, itchy eyes, breathing problems and other symptoms usually related to high levels formaldehyde in their FEMA trailer.

With FEMA reporting that over100,000 people still live in FEMA trailers across the Gulf Coast, it is even more worrisome that 55% of residents interviewed report that if they were to be evicted from their FEMA trailer in the next few months they would have no family they could turn to for help and they expected to be homeless.

With this report, LJI and CDF want national attention focused on the dire circumstances of over 100,000 residents on the Gulf Coast still living in FEMA trailers. In addition, LJI calls on the U.S. government and the governments of the Gulf Coast states to develop a long-term plan to make sure that residents of the Gulf Coast have access to safe, affordable housing, as well as immediate and continued access to medical examinations and healthcare in order to gauge and address all health problems resulting from their exposure to high levels of formaldehyde.

To receive an electronic copy of the report, please email lauren@louisianajusticeinstitute.org.

LAFITTE FALLS

Demolition of the final 'Big Four' complex stirs up memories of the past and anxiety about the future of N.O. public housing

Friday, April 11, 2008
By Katy Reckdahl

Forty years ago, Mary Joseph was helping families at the Lafitte public housing development as a home counselor.

On Thursday morning, Joseph, now head of the Children's Defense Fund of Louisiana, sat in her car not far from the Lafitte's Tonti Street court, watching yellow backhoes ripping into the development's buildings.

She felt sorrow as she recalled the late 1960s and early 1970s in the complex, across Orleans Avenue from the offices of prominent civil rights leaders A.P. Tureaud and Dutch Morial and from the frequent civil rights meeting spot, Dooky Chase restaurant. She had been inside nearly every apartment and knew the families well, she said.

Like many who came to view the destruction, Joseph and her co-worker Glenda Harris also talked about the post-Katrina squeeze on affordable housing.

They wondered how much of that shortage could be addressed with the mixed-income housing planned for the sites of the now-demolished "Big Four" housing developments.
Down the street, a group of protesters stood listlessly, holding signs. Among them was lawyer Tracie Washington of the Louisiana Justice Institute, who said she and other attorneys challenged the demolitions in every court, but failed.

She wondered whether the mixed-income developers' plans would shrink now that the value of low-income tax credits used to finance the plans has declined.

Joseph said housing officials should examine the city's needs as a whole, rather than just at replacements for demolished complexes.

"We need a unified housing plan," she said. said. "We are chipping away at this, development by development."
. . . . . . .

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-8/120789136227440.xml&coll=1





A Gathering to Honor Lafitte and Protest Its Destruction on Friday April 11, 2008. From left to right: Glenda Harris, Mr. Joseph, Mary Joseph, Tracie Washington and Lauren Bartlett

The Agony of Lafitte from Citizens' City Hall

The Louisiana Justice Institute (LJI) Invites you to a Public Forum on April 15th, 2008 from 7-9pm

--FORUM--

The Impact of the Closure of Charity on the Metro
Area

-or-
HOW the REFUSAL of LSU Health
Care Officials to RE-OPEN
CHARITY HOSPITAL AFFECTS YOU!!

SPEAKERS:
- Judge Calvin Johnson, Retired Orleans Parish Criminal
Court
- State Rep. Juan LaFonta, Chair of the Legislative
Black Caucus
- Clinic Dir. Alice Craft-Kerney, RN and Director
of the Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic
- Commander Cecile Tebo , NOPD Mobile Crisis Unit
- NAACP 1st VP Darius Johnson, Chair of the
Local NAACP Health Care Committee

WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, April 15
WHERE: Loyola U., Roussel Hall, Music
Bldg., Corner of St. Charles Ave. (6300 block) and Calhoun

SPONSORS: LUCAP (Loyola Univ. Community Action Program), Committee to Reopen Charity Hospital, the Louisiana Justice Institute

Join our Facebook group!

Join LJI's Facebook group today!

Search on Facebook for "Louisiana Justice Institute" and click on Join this Group on the right of the page below the LJI Logo.

11am Today: Protest of Demolition of Lafitte Housing Development

Friends:

I've learned the Housing Authority of New Orleans, Providence Housing, and Catholic Charities -- with the blessings of Ray Nagin and each and every New Orleans City Councilmember -- will begin the demolition of the Lafitte Housing Development on tomorrow.

Lafitte Housing Development is a crime scene. It is the site of a rape and the defilement of a community and a people. We know this. We also know that, just as has happened in the past when 'do-gooder' missionaries come to "tame the natives" -- Catholic Charities and Providence will leave us with a corpse or worse, the caricature of the people they want to help.

Will you please join me and others tomorrow as we stand in protest, beginning at 11:00 a.m. We will meet at the corner of Claiborne Avenue and Orleans Avenue.

Tracie L. Washington, Esq.

PBS Segment on Public Housing in New Orleans

Tracie Washington makes a lovely appearance towards the end of the segment:
http://vvi.onstreammedia.com/cgi-bin/visearch?squery=+ClipID:3++VideoAsset:pbsnh040108&query=new+orleans+housing&user=pbs-newshour&tid=email

Tracie Washington receives 2008 Excellence in Public Interest Award from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law

The Texas Law Fellowship 2008 Excellence in Public Interest Award was given to Tracie Washington last Friday, February 29, 2008.

Texas Law Fellowships is a student run fellowship organization at the University of Texas School of Law. and it is the University of Texas branch of the National Association of Public Interest Law (NAPIL) representative organization.

For more information please see: http://www.utexas.edu/law/orgs/tlf/news.htm.

100,000 Gulf Coast Residents Face Imminent Eviction

100,000 Gulf Coast residents currently living in FEMA trailers face eviction in the next two to three months. These are the same folks that fought for their lives through the storms and flood waters of 2005. Then they fought to find a place to live, any place. Instead of finding a home, they moved into 32 sq. foot trailers, often far from supportive communities and family members. When residents of trailers began complaining of skin rashes, respiratory problems, itchy eyes, and other health problems in early 2006, FEMA ignored them. When outside groups tested the trailers and found high levels of formaldehyde present, FEMA ignored them. In fact, FEMA kept providing those same trailers to additional residents with the the knowledge that they might be putting the residents at risk. Now, almost 3 years after the trailers were first provided to residents, FEMA wants them out. After hundreds of thousands of children, elderly residents, pregnant women have been exposed to 2 ½ years of obscenely high levels of formaldehyde, FEMA wants them out and has no plans to take care of the health and housing crisis that looms ahead. Though FEMA has not yet set a date or given most residents notices of eviction, these next steps are sure to follow soon.

Where are the 100,000 residents supposed to go? FEMA has no plans for permanent housing for the FEMA trailer residents. In fact, while HUD is taking over rental assistance for Gulf Coast residents who were provided with FEMA rental assistance until last fall, FEMA has announced that HUD has no such longer term plans for rental assistance for residents evicted from FEMA trailers. In addition, while private rental housing has been built and rebuilt at an extremely fast rate, the supply cannot keep up with the need, and the rents are still double and sometimes triple the prices before 2005 in New Orleans. Moreover, almost 50% of these residents are homeowners in Louisiana, still waiting for Road Home Program funds, and many who have already received their rebuilding funds have become the victims of contractor fraud, leaving too many to count still in their FEMA trailers outside their gutted homes. These homeowners face imminent eviction from their FEMA trailers and as one resident put it to me last night, “I know I’m going to be under the Claiborne Bridge by May and after two years of fighting I can’t believe it is going to come to that.” The Claiborne Bridge underpass is now home to the homeless families that had been living in protest in a park in front of New Orleans City Hall until the Mayor decided to fence the park off last month when the Sugar Bowl came to town.

What is more, what medical treatment is being provided today to take care of the rashes, respiratory and other health effects of long-term exposure to high levels of formaldehyde? I met a gentleman last night who is living in a FEMA trailer park in Port Arthur, Louisiana. He told me he has been asking FEMA for 2 years to see a doctor to talk about his breathing and other health problems which developed after he moved into his trailer. FEMA has done nothing and he has already used up all of his allotted Medicaid doctors visits for the year.

FEMA will not be able to use this formaldehyde scare, the same issue that these residents raised with FEMA over two years ago, to get residents out of their FEMA trailers quickly, silently, and without a plan to deal with the long-term health problems they have caused and permanent, affordable housing options for these folks. These residents have been continuously fighting for lives, they have spent too many long hours dealing with FEMA’s bureaucracy and have even found time to develop community plans, which they have presented to FEMA, which would allow FEMA to move folks out of trailers equitably and safely. It is now FEMA’s turn to respond with the same energy and respect that the trailer residents have shown. It is time for FEMA to step up and respond with real recovery efforts dedicated to these people, which we have been waiting on for far too long.

To begin with, FEMA needs a plan that goes beyond hotel rooms for these residents. If HUD is not going to take over rental assistance for trailer residents who are being evicted, what long-term plan is in place? We are particularly worried about the elderly and the disabled trailer residents, many of whom have been left behind and will continue to be left behind in any movement to find permanent housing. As the CDC recommends, multi-agency collaboration will be required to achieve safe, healthy, permanent housing for these residents.

Secondly, the long-term health problems of these residents and their immediate and continuing need for medical assistance must be addressed immediately. The CDC recommends that FEMA should consider establishing a health registry and long-term assistance to the Louisiana and Mississippi Health Departments to ensure adequate monitoring and medical follow-up. We expect no less from FEMA, and more from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and other state and federal health agencies.

Lastly, these residents have been telling FEMA what they needed all along. They have been arranging meetings, signing petitions, developing plans, and writing letters, all to no avail. We expect FEMA officials to start listening to the people and step up to the task of providing for their needs. These folks know what they need... they have been saying it all along.

The KatrinaRitaVille Express (www.krvexpress.org) outside of the CDC/FEMA Meeting in Baker, Louisiana, on Monday February 25, 2008.

CDC/FEMA Meetings Across Louisiana This Week to Discuss Testing and a Study on Formaldehyde Levels in FEMA Trailers

Last night FEMA and the CDC hosted a meeting in Baker, Louisiana, to address the testing of FEMA trailers and a recent study on formaldehyde levels entitled "CDC Public Availability Session about the Air Quality Testing in FEMA-Supplied Trailers and Mobile Homes." This meeting followed closely in the footsteps of FEMA's Valentine's Day announcement that all Gulf Coast residents would have to be out of their FEMA trailers by Summer 2008 due to health dangers from high levels of formaldehyde present in the trailers.

After doing a very poor job to publicize the meeting (most residents found out about the meeting on the news yesterday morning) and announcing the time and location of the meeting to the community only the night before, there were only about 60 residents from four trailer parks in the area. There were, however, also about 5 news stations present, reporters from 5-6 newspapers and various attorneys who represent FEMA trailer residents in lawsuits on the formaldehyde issue.

Michael McGeehin, a medical doctor who works for the CDC, presented his findings on the testings and study that was conducted in December 2007 and January 2008 to assess levels of formaldehyde in travel trailers supplied by FEMA and possible health affects. The key findings he presented included:

• In many trailers, mobile homes, and park models tested, formaldehyde levels were elevated relative to typical levels of US indoor exposure.

• Average levels of formaldehyde in all units was about 77 parts per billion (ppb). This level is higher than US background levels. Levels measured ranged from 3 ppb to 590 ppb.

• These measured levels are likely to under-represent long-term exposures since formaldehyde levels tend to be higher in newer travel trailers and mobile homes and during warmer weather.

• Indoor temperature was a significant factor for formaldehyde levels in this study independent of trailer make or model.

• Formaldehyde levels varied by model (mobile homes, park homes, and travel trailers), but all types of trailers tested had some high levels.

• At the levels seen in many trailers, health could be affected.

After Mr. McGeehin presented his findings, he was flooded with angry questions from the residents concerning access to medical care immediately, housing and long term health affects. The many FEMA representatives who were present at the meeting refused to make a statement at the podium and residents were directed to speak with them in private at the side tables set up for that purpose. Mr. McGeehin also told residents that there were doctors and medical staff present from the CDC who would speak to individual residents about their health problems.

The CDC presented the following recommendations for public health officials pursuant to its study:
• The conclusions support the need to move quickly to relocate trailer residents before the warmer weather of summer, placing highest priority on those who are symptomatic and/or especially vulnerable.
• Appropriate follow-up will require multi-agency collaboration including FEMA, HUD, CDC, and others, to achieve safe, healthy housing for people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who continue to live in FEMA-supplied travel trailers and mobile homes.
• FEMA should consider necessary assistance to Louisiana and Mississippi Health Departments to ensure adequate follow-up, including medical needs, for trailer residents with health and medical concerns resulting from residence in FEMA-supplied travel trailers or mobile homes and formaldehyde exposure.
• FEMA should consider establishing a registry and long-term health monitoring of children and others who resided in FEMA-supplied travel trailers and mobile homes in the Gulf Coast Region.

The CDC and FEMA are holding several other similar meetings across Louisiana over the next few days. We recommend that you attend these meetings and ask the officials hard-hitting questions about existing medical care for trailer residents, long term health affects of formaldehyde, especially in pregnant women and children, FEMA’s plans for housing the 100,000 residents that are soon to be evicted from their FEMA trailers etc.

Tuesday, Feb. 26, noon to 2 p.m., St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church (2300 Crowder Blvd.)

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., St. Anna's Episcopal Church (1313 Esplanade Ave.)

Wednesday, Feb. 27, noon to 2 p.m., Nunez Community College Auditorium (3700 Fenelon St., Chalmette)

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Joseph S. Yenni Government Building (1221 Elmwood Park Blvd., Second Floor Council Chambers, Jefferson)

Thursday, Feb. 28, noon to 2 p.m., Lake Charles Civic Center (900 Lakeshore Drive, Contraband Room, Lake Charles)

Thursday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Lake Charles Civic Center (900 Lakeshore Drive, Contraband Room, Lake Charles)

The KatrinaRitaVille Express was present at the meeting last night and will be present at many of the other meetings in Louisiana and Mississippi this week.

Tracie Washington to Speak at Yale's Rebellious Lawyering Conference - Saturday February 23rd, 2008

The 14th Annual Rebellious Lawyering Conference will be held Friday, February 22, through Sunday, February 24, at Yale Law School.

The annual, student-run conference brings together practitioners, law students, and community activists from around the country to discuss innovative, progressive approaches to law and social change.

This year’s conference will feature more than a dozen panel discussions on such timely topics as minority ballot access, animal rights, environmental justice, immigrant detention conditions, progressive family law, class-action advocacy for the homeless, and the rights of Americans with disabilities.

Tracie Washington will speak on a panel entitled "Seeking Shelter and Protection: Class-Action Advocacy for the Homeless". For more information on the panel please go to:
http://islandia.law.yale.edu/reblaw/panels.htm#What

For more information on the conference please see: http://www.law.yale.edu/news/6122.htm

Get on the Bus or Join LJI in Austin!

Please join LJI in Austin on Thursday February 21st, 2008 for the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate at the University of Texas!

The KatrinaRitaVille Express national FEMA trailer tour is headed to Austin TX for Thursday's CNN Democratic Presidential Debate at the University of Texas.

debate info: http://www.utexas.edu/news/2008/02/13/debate/

trailer tour: www.krvexpress.org

Inside seating for the 7-8:30 pm debate is closed to the public, but the KatrinaRitaVille Express At 7pm, the debate will be shown live on the side of our 32' trailer.

Displaced residents and folks back home in coastal AL, MS, LA and TX are encouraged to come "bear witness" to the unmet housing, environmental, infrastructure and human rights needs of our region's so-called "recovery."

Free bus transportation and overnight lodging will be provided on a "first come first serve" basis for folks traveling from coastal AL, MS and LA. To reserve space, contact jainey@equityandinclusion.org ASAP. The FEMA trailer will set up nearby for a full afternoon of testimonials, audio-visual screenings, and information-sharing from gulf coast survivors and advocates.

Report on FEMA Trailer Residents in Louisiana Forthcoming

The Louisiana Justice Institute will soon publish a report based on the data that we gathered during our January 2008 FEMA Trailer Survey & Outreach Project. Student Hurricane Network law student volunteers from across the country assisted LJI in carrying out a comprehensive survey and outreach project in early January 2008. The law student volunteers passed out our Local Resource Guide, provided information on HUD and FEMA rental assistance programs and interviewed FEMA trailer residents in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, as well as residents of the Renaissance Village Trailer Park in Baker, Louisiana. The volunteers spoke with over 500 residents total in January 2008.

For some recent media coverage on FEMA trailer residents in Louisiana, please see:

Scientists scrutinize materials used in making FEMA trailers amid ...
International Herald Tribune - France
... meaning they are on fixed incomes and cannot easily find affordable housing, said Tracie Washington, president of the Louisiana Justice Institute, ...

Scientists Closely Examine FEMA Trailers

The Associated Press - Feb 16, 2008
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — While the Federal Emergency Management Agency rushes to move thousands of Gulf Coast storm victims out of government-issued trailers, ...

Lawsuit filed to reopen Charity Hospital

by The Times-Picayune

Thursday January 17, 2008, 12:40 PM

By Kate Moran
Staff Writer

Attorneys representing seven uninsured patients filed a lawsuit Thursday to force the state to reopen Charity Hospital or make other provisions to care for thousands of people with diabetes, cancer, chronic mental illness and other conditions that have deteriorated from lack of access to health care since Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana State University reopened University Hospital after the storm to provide safety net care to the region's uninsured, but the attorneys argued that University does not provide the full complement of services that were available at Charity. University has 171 staffed beds, compared to 550 at the two hospitals before the storm.

LSU officials have argued the old Charity complex is outdated and damaged and that it would be economically wasteful to try and reopen it.

"The unlawful closure of Big Charity had had a devastating impact on the greater New Orleans area," the lawsuit says. "Among other things, thousands of residents lack basic health care, the chronically ill go untreated, and critical specialty care is either delayed or unavailable."

The suit was filed in the Civil District Court in New Orleans by a group of attorneys, all working pro bono. They include Stephen Rosenfeld of Boston; Calvin Johnson, William Quigley and Tracie Washington of New Orleans; Thomas Milliner of Metairie; Steven Berman of Seattle; and Leonard Aragon of Phoenix.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/lawsuit_filed_to_reopen_charit.html

Lawsuit Filed Challenging the Closure of Charity Hospital

The Louisiana Justice Institute joined other organizations, health professionals, patients, public safety and legal advocates, elected officials, faith and community leaders at a press conference today to announce the lawsuit challenging the closure of New Orleans' Rev. Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital.

The healthcare crisis in the Greater New Orleans community continues. Tens of thousands of working poor people, children, elderly and others across the Metro New Orleans community still cannot get the healthcare they need. While several neighborhood clinics have opened and are providing primary care to thousands, most of these clinics provide only primary care and have no place to refer their patients for medically essential specialty and tertiary care and advanced diagnostic services.

Press Conference participants included;

• Former patients of Charity Hospital who have agreed to serve as plaintiffs and class representatives in this legal action
• Healthcare and social service professionals
• Neighborhood health clinic operators
• Law enforcement officials
• Advocates for equitable access to healthcare
• Community Leaders
• LJI President & CEO Tracie L. Washington along with other attorneys from New Orleans, Boston, Phoenix and Seattle, representing the class of plaintiffs legally entitled to healthcare services formerly provided at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and its affiliated clinics.