Moving Out the Woodland.

Heavy rains were forecast today, so gutting was postponed. Instead, we turned to another, more urgent matter: the Woodland Apartment Complex.

The Woodland Apartment Complex served as an affordable source of housing for displaced, working-class New Orleans citizens. However, the complex was recently sold to Johnson Properties Group for renovations, and all the residents were given a January 4 eviction date. As of this morning, 18 families remained, unable to find housing elsewhere and facing homelessness. Common Ground went there to help them move out.

When we got there, a press conference was in order. Several dismayed residents spoke, in tears, to the cameras, of their frustration and grief over the situation. Their communicty was being broken apart, they said, and some compared it to their displacement immediately after Katrina. The situation for most of these residents has been bleak since the hurricane, and many have had difficulty finding jobs. "If you have trouble finding a house, you have trouble getting a job, and if you have trouble getting a job, you have trouble finding a house," said one resident, Merlin Owens. Many lamented the high rent costs in the city (which have shot up between 70-300% since Katrina) and some mentioned how, as blacks, they are no longer wanted in a city destined to be whiter and richer in the coming years, if the contractors and politicians have their way. Several of the families present had young children with them. It was the saddest and most difficult thing I've seen so far in my short stay here.

When the press conference ended, we got to work. We formed an assembly line and helped move things from one Ms. Ebony's apartment. Her young son, probably ten years old or so, helped us out. Everyone from Oxy and Whittier helped out, so it didn't take long. While we worked, all the fire alarms in the apartment were taking turns ringing, and the constant blare of alarms added an extra layer of intensity to an already intense situation.

Following this, we went to another family's house. This one took much longer. Everything came down the stairs, clothes to couches, tables to television sets. We loaded it all in the back of a U-Haul and then walked to a nearby storage facility, where we unloaded it. We took a break, had lunch, and then made another trip to finish the job.

Having moved out two apartments, there seemed to be little left to do. It turns out that the eviction date was no longer being enforced, so a few of the residents decided to stick around a little longer. So we volunteers just sort of sat around talking for an hour or two, with nothing to do. That's one of the problems of Common Ground; it is an group sometimes unified by name only, and organization is occasionally difficult to come by.

We came home early today, a little before 4. I felt very tired, even though the day's work wasn't particularly strenuous. Maybe it's because I went to the airport last night to look for my luggage and didn't return until midnight (which, thankfully, has arrived.)

Some pictures of the press conference can be found here:
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/gallery/woodlandpress
(I can be seen in picture 12, in the blue jacket, orange scarf, and white hat, carrying the thermos)

That's all to report for now.