New Orleans: A model for reducing homelessness
NEW ORLEANS – In the shadow of the Superdome – the epicenter of Hurricane Katrina’s horrors – Will Vanslaughter zips in and out of traffic, scrubbing windshields, charming drivers, armed with a squeegee, a water bottle and a smile.
“A lot of people think we’re bums,” said Vanslaughter, 46, who recently landed an apartment with the help of a local nonprofit after living under a bridge for three years. “But I don’t come out here to get money for drugs. I come out here to feed myself. This is how I survive.”
Vanslaughter is one of thousands of homeless and formerly homeless people the city of New Orleans is struggling to stabilize. Still, in many ways, New Orleans is a success story.
After Katrina, homelessness skyrocketed, from about 2,000 people experiencing homelessness in 2005 to nearly 12,000 in 2007, according to Unity of Greater New Orleans (Unity GNO), a nonprofit designated by the federal government to lead the city’s efforts to provide housing and services to the homeless.
But in 2011, the city launched an all-out offensive on homelessness, slashing the number of homeless residents by more than 80%, from close to 6,700 in 2011 to fewer than 1,200 in 2018. Factoring in the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness since 2007, the overall number has been slashed 90%.
“It’s heroic stuff,” said Steve Berg, vice president for programs and policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a research and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. “They really shook things up and forced people to work together who weren’t before – and demanded results. It’s a great story.”
City officials did it by fighting homelessness on a variety of fronts: They adopted a “housing first” policy: providing homes and services to New Orleans’ neediest, without requiring that they resolve mental health or substance abuse issues first. They expanded a health care clinic for the homeless and started conducting weekly check-ins to connect more people to counseling and other services.
They designated 200 housing vouchers for veterans and set aside 55 units for them in a converted convent. They successfully lobbied Congress for 3,000 extra housing vouchers in 2008. And last year, the city opened a 100bed, “low-barrier” shelter where people don’t have to be sober to be admitted. Will Vanslaughter of New Orleans.