Katrina's ruins home to thousands of homeless

[IDemo]

More than five years after hurricane, New Orleans struggles with more than 40,000 abandoned properties

By CAIN BURDEAU
The Associated Press
updated 2/13/2011 6:49:38 AM ET 2011-02-13T11:49:38


NEW ORLEANS — The dark blue rescue van pulls up in front of a sad shell of a house, a few blocks from the police station and criminal court. It's turning into a cold January night.

Slipping on gloves, social workers Mike Miller and Katy Quigley head in.

"Homeless outreach! Anybody home?" Miller shouts as he climbs over a balcony and up a flight of stairs.

No one's home. But the signs of life are disturbing: A slept-on mattress, bits of food, smells of urine and feces.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41554935/ns/us_news-life/

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. First thing the city did was board up undamaged low income housing.

then they shipped off as many poor people ( read: black) as they could find.
The increased homeless issue is a New Orleans created mess.

but it will not be limited to only that city. All over the country, same thing is happening, services discontinued.

[Poboy]

2. There is a mini community living under the overpass to the GNO bridge.

Its right across the street from the N.O. Mission (homeless shelter) on Oretha Castle Hailey Blvd.

from your article-
"'Very Third World'
Decades of poverty, the trauma of Katrina, the economic downturn and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are a toxic socio-economic cocktail that has made the reality of dire homelessness stubbornly vivid here. With about 11,000 homeless, New Orleans has the nation's highest number per capita, according to UNITY."