Housing Trust Funds have a long history of producing diverse affordable housing options at the local level.

Housing advocates have been working hard to bring this idea to scale and create a National Housing Trust Fund to build 1.5 million affordable units in 10 years. Most of the units would help people that pay over 50% of their income towards housing costs, something more and more Americans can relate to as costs of living rise.

But just as it seems we are inching close to securing much needed resources to build affordable rental housing, someone’s always got to throw a stumbling block in the way. As Monday’s editorial in the New York Times points out, the National Housing Trust Fund that has just emerged from Senate committee would redirect the first year’s pot of money to a foreclosure prevention program.

Sounds good, sure — but this is instead of the House’s version, which sends the money to rebuild much-needed housing on the Gulf Coast. The fact that the Gulf Coast’s own Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) is leading the effort to funnel money away from the Gulf is particularly painful, but would come as no surprise to those fighting to rebuild communities across the coast.

There is a severe need for funds to build affordable rental housing in the Gulf: in the most devastated parishes, Louisiana only has money allocated to rebuild 1/3 of the 82,000 units of rental housing destroyed; Mississippi has received waivers of low-income requirements on the vast majority of its recovery dollars and moved $600 million of its housing recovery dollars to rebuild their port; and Alabama currently only has the funding to help one-tenth of those that applied in Mobile County for help rebuilding their homes.

There is still a housing crisis in the communities of the Gulf Coast – almost 3 years out families are getting kicked out of trailers with formaldehyde fumes with nowhere to call home. One year of this Fund could significantly contribute to housing production in the Gulf Coast and help ease the immense need.

It’s unfortunate Gulf Coast residents are being forced to compete for money with those swallowed up in the foreclosure crisis. The politicians in Washington must figure out a way to handle both of these pressing housing crises with compassion and vision.

Photo of New Orleans’ Musicians Village by Flickr user Cherie’, used under a Creative Commons license.

The Guardian, the UK’s premier newspaper at covering in-depth issues in the States, today features an insightful piece on the “epic housing crisis” facing New Orleans. The article highlights the startling rental housing statistics researched by Annie Clark and Kalima Rose in the landmark PolicyLink report, “Bringing Louisiana Renters Back Home.” (pdf) The article features quotes from Ms. Clark, as well.

There are few incentives for landlords to renovate their rental properties. The Louisiana Recovery Authority’s “Road Home” program offers incentives for “small rental property owners” but it is not popular with mom-and-pop landlords, according to Annie Clark of progressive policy and research institute PolicyLink.

“A landlord says, ‘Yes I am going to rehabilitate my rental units,’” Clark explained, “but then he or she has to get a bank loan which is then paid back by Road Home. Banks are very hesitant to give loans to people this way.”

Clark added that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rehabilitated only about 1,500 units of the 4,600 units it has set aside for seniors, the disabled and poor working families in New Orleans. “HUD really has shirked its responsibility in these units,” Clark said.

The full piece is definitely worth a read to get a sense of the depth of the housing crisis still ongoing in New Orleans.

As you can probably tell from previous EquityBlog posts, one of the highlights of this year’s Regional Equity ‘08 Summit was the plenary panel surrounding “Trouble the Water,” a post-Katrina documentary that earned the top documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

For those who haven’t had a chance to see any clips or hear the heroic stories of Kim and Scott Roberts — the young New Orleans couple at the heart of the film — please take a minute (actually, six and a half minutes) to watch this video dispatch on the Entertainment Weekly web site. You won’t want to miss this film when it is finally released later this year (Check back here and the film’s site for release news)

A crowd of more than 1,000 packed the Grand Ballroom at the Regional Equity ‘o8 Summit Thursday to see clips of “Trouble the Water,” a powerful new documentary about post-Katrina life in New Orleans.

Executive producer Danny Glover joined with the film’s directors, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, and the film’s subjects, Kimberly and Scott Roberts for a passionate and inspiring discussion about the film and the issues of equity and equality is raises.

The documentary follows Kim and Scott for more than a year as they face the storm (via gripping hand-held camera work as they were still trapped in their home by floodwaters) and try to recover and start a family. Critics are already raving about the film, including awarding it the Grand Jury prize for best documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

As Glover pointed out, though, the Roberts’ story is not just an tale isolated to post-storm New Orleans. It reflects the inequity and injustice we see all over the country.

“In Detroit, Chicago, New York, communities have been left behind,” Glover said. “This is an epidemic.”

Lessin said she hopes the film can serve as a catalyst for equitable change across the country, as activists, advocates, policymakers and people from the faith community come together to watch the real life struggles of Kim and Scott and strategize ways to create more and better opportunities for all people.

To find out more about the film, please visit the film’s homepage, www.TroubleTheWaterFilm.com.

Producers are eying a late summer or early fall theatrical release.

For more information about what PolicyLink is doing to help Louisiana recover more equitably and how you can help, please check out www.PolicyLink.org/Communities/Louisiana.