From Bishop Jenkins - Action Alert On Housing

From the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana:

Action Alert: Demolition of Public Housing
Bishop Jenkins invites all concerned lay and clergy to New Orleans City Hall at 9 a.m. Thursday, December 20th to attend a meeting on the public housing crisis.

On Friday, December 14, the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana issued a special E-DoLA covering the public housing crisis in New Orleans.

Since the release of that information, a judge has ordered a stop to all demolition until the city council holds a hearing on Thursday. In addition, the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate [call] for a 60-day moratorium on demolition, to enable our lawmakers to be fully satisfied regarding a number of disputed facts, and to address the fact that lawmakers have yet to be shown a "full and viable" plan that addresses immediate need for units by Katrina survivors, one-for-one replacement, and the long-term goal of new mixed income developments.

The debate and vote on Thursday represents a moral crossroads for our community. The lives and well-being of tens of thousands of people are at stake, and the weight of this decision and its implications for those in tenuous housing situations or homeless looms large. This is why we urge all residents with post-Katrina humanitarian and spiritual concerns to register their request of our elected officials to be thorough and not hasty, and to approve the request by our two most powerful Congressional leaders for the 60-day moratorium.

Click Here to read the New York Times Article "High Noon in New Orleans: The Bulldozers Are Ready."

To send a message to the New Orleans City Council, click here.

In the planning stage is a letter to President Bush asking his intervention to prevent demolition of the public housing. The diocese will ask people from all over the country to send the message to the president. When a link is available, I will post it.