NEW ORLEANS — The board of directors for HousingNOLA appointed Andreanecia M. Morris as its Executive Director effective Monday, June 20, 2016. HousingNOLA reps said Morris has dedicated the past 20 years of her life to improving the affordable-housing market in New Orleans.
HousingNOLA reps said HousingNOLA aims to offer a roadmap to maximize the effectiveness of scarce government resources, increasing non-traditional resources and assisting private-sector investors in making strategic choices.
"The work of HousingNOLA is critical to the future of this city," said New Orleans City Council Vice President Jason Williams. "The New Orleans City Council is pleased that the board of directors has selected Andreancia Morris to be the Executive Director of the organization. Morris is the ideal person for this role based on her immense experience working with affordable housing in the city. She is equipped to lead the organization forward on its promise of regenerating access to affordable housing."
Throughout Morris' career, she served as the Director of Communications for the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), Marketing Manager of HANO, Director of Telecommunications of HANO, Vice-President for Homeownership and Community Development for Providence Community Housing and as President and Chairwoman for the Board of Governors of the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Sociology from Loyola University New Orleans.
"I am truly humbled and honored to be selected to serve as the Executive Director of this great organization," said Morris. "I am excited to continue to work towards improving affordable housing for the New Orleans community."
Since Hurricane Katrina, Morris has helped to create opportunities for approximately 500 families to become first-time homebuyers, HousingNOLA reps said. In December 2015, HousingNOLA released a 10-year plan that promised to add 5,000 affordable units to the city by 2021. The plan focused primarily on aiding the rebuilding of the 275,000 homes that were destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and has since been adopted by the city of New Orleans.
"Foundation for Louisiana is pleased to be a founding partner in the work of HousingNOLA and their mission to provide sustainable, affordable housing for the people of New Orleans since the organization's inception," said Flozell Daniels Jr., CEO of the Foundation for Louisiana. "We are thrilled to see that Andreanecia Morris will be leading this effort to implement the strategic housing plan that hundreds of residents helped to develop toward the actualization of their mission."
HousingNOLA's 10-year strategic housing plan, released in December of 2015, has been adopted by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and was a cornerstone of the city's housing plan discussed at the recent State of the City address-increasing the City's pledge from 5,000 to 7,500 new affordable housing opportunities. Several key benchmarks already have been met, HousingNOLA reps said, and the State of Housing will be available in its Report Card, which is planned for release on Sept. 1, 2016.
