I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel with my family over Mardi Gras week this year to Paris. My teenage daughter is fluent in French — thanks to one of our wonderful French immersion schools here — and the city had long been on our bucket list.
I saw a lot of similarities between New Orleans and Paris — of course the French culture we have adapted here, along with the proximity to the water, and the immense love of food and culture. And then there’s the fact that they too recently hosted a big event, the 2024 Olympics, which was held July 26-Aug. 11. What many may not have realized, however, is that the Olympic Village was constructed in one of the poorest sections of Paris.
As such, in preparation for being on the world stage, Paris began busing their unhoused people out of the city. As of mid-July, the city had sent around 12,500 of Paris’ estimated 100,000 unhoused citizens out of the city to 10 temporary shelters set up around the country. The move was seen by many as a very temporary and costly fix to a long-term problem with deep roots in the city’s affordable housing crisis.
Sound familiar?
If you do an internet search for “homeless problem” you’ll find news article after news article from what looks like every city in America struggling with growing populations of unhoused men, women and children. Homelessness in this country has reached record-high numbers — 653,104 people experienced homelessness in the U.S. in 2023, a 12% increase over 2022. The No. 1 cause, by far, is a lack of affordable housing.
This month we were able to have a chat with Martha Kegel, leader of Unity of Greater New Orleans, who helped shed some light on the people behind the numbers and how, exactly, we got this way as a country.
Solving any problem starts with truly understanding it, and I hope this piece helps with that and that you enjoy all of our annual nonprofit issue, which highlights just a handful of the incredible people and organizations that work every day to make our region better.
Kimberley Singletary, Editor
Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com
