Courtesy of Activists from Stop the Demolition Coalition:

It is two years since Hurricane Katrina left much of New Orleans in ruins, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.

Today, thousands remain displaced, and FEMA is evicting those who are still living in trailers. The homeless population of New Orleans has more than doubled since the storm, and now in December 2007, HUD is planning to demolish thousands more units of affordable housing in New Orleans--the public housing developments which survived the storm relatively undamaged, and remain structurally sound. Demolition without one-for-one replacement will result in a loss of 82% of the affordable housing stock in the city of New Orleans, which will further exacerbate already acutely inflated rental prices, and will disproportionately affect working class women of color.

Stopping HUD's demolition plans in New Orleans here and now not only will be a victory for a more just and equitable New Orleans, it will send a message to HUD that they cannot continue to displace working class people in cities across the United States in the name of "progress" and "poverty alleviation." The residents want to come home, and New Orleans desperately needs to preserve the affordable housing that it already has in order to continue to struggle to rebuild itself after Katrina.