As rising insurance costs are affecting homeowners throughout Louisiana, and sending many of our neighbors to other states, Andreanecia Morris, Executive Director for HousingNOLA, and the GNO Housing Alliance are working tirelessly to advocate for substantive solutions to drive down costs for affordable housing for all.
“The term ‘affordable housing’ is often misunderstood,” says Andreanecia, “The average homeowner’s insurance rates have risen forty percent, with many Louisiana residents experiencing far worse. The goal has always been to pay ten percent toward insurance costs, and that is what we are working to return to.”
Andreanecia Morris has spent her career working for the benefit of New Orleans homeowners, with her efforts post-Katrina creating 500 first-time homebuyers, disbursing $10 million in homebuyer subsidies, and providing supportive services for approximately 5,000 households. Now, as New Orleans nears the twenty-year anniversary of Katrina, she sees a new housing catastrophe looming on the horizon.
“One of the major factors in increased insurance costs is our rapidly changing climate,” says Andreanecia. “In the past year alone, we almost had a blizzard and are beginning to get tornadoes more often, not to mention hurricanes. We can mitigate insurance risk by making homes more climate-ready.”
But this is just one piece of a larger puzzle, as a baseline economic conversation is needed with state-level lawmakers on a bipartisan level to benefit residents and keep people living and working in Louisiana.
“It’s about doing right by our citizens, and we need our leaders to understand that,” says Andreanecia. “Part of what they’re doing through the rest of the year is figuring out how to help make the next ten years of housing the best it can be for everyone because everyone deserves to have affordable housing in Louisiana.”
GNO Housing Alliance
4640 S Carrollton Ave. Suite 160, New Orleans | 504-224-8300
