More than 2,600 people in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish—many with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and histories of trauma—could soon be forced back into homelessness. Why? Because of a sudden and devastating change in federal housing policy.

For years, New Orleans has used “permanent supportive housing” to help some of our most vulnerable residents move off the streets, stabilize their health, and rebuild their lives. It’s worked. People like Elijah Baker, who once slept on sidewalks and now has a roof over his head, have begun to heal. But under new rules issued by the Trump administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), funding for this kind of permanent housing will be slashed in favor of temporary shelters and short-term assistance.

This change is more than a bureaucratic shift—it’s a human crisis in the making.

Without intervention, thousands of people will lose the homes they've fought so hard to keep. The system will be overwhelmed. Shelters are already at capacity. And as winter approaches, this could mean mothers sleeping in cars with their children, elderly residents back under overpasses, and people with mental health conditions slipping through the cracks again.

We cannot let that happen.

We are calling on Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, the New Orleans City Council, and Louisiana’s Congressional delegation—especially Representative Troy Carter—to urgently demand that HUD reverse these harmful changes. Local officials must also protect and restore funding for homeless services in the city’s own budget, ensuring no one is forced back onto the streets due to a political decision made in Washington.

Housing is not a handout—it’s a foundation. It saves lives, reduces public costs, and restores dignity. 

Sign this petition to say: Keep permanent housing in New Orleans funded. Protect our people.

Photo: Brett Duke/Times-Picayune