This is a message from UNITY of Greater New Orleans, a collaborative of 60 agencies working to end homelessness and bring New Orleans home. --tim

Please do not abandon the most vulnerable victims of Katrina and Rita -- that is the message we want to give to national congressional leaders this week. We have set a goal of generating 1000 more calls from Louisiana and around the country into the offices of the national Congressional leadership by Thursday!

Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Senator Robert Byrd, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, have led a successful fight in the Senate that resulted, two weeks ago, in inclusion in the Supplemental Appropriations Bill of funding for 3000 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) rent vouchers for the most vulnerable victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for Louisiana. This week we must fight relentlessly to preserve this victory as the Bill goes to the House! Please send this Call to Action to your friends and family around the nation!

As early as this Thursday, the House of Representatives is expected to vote whether to accept the Senate's version. There is pressure to eliminate the Permanent Supportive Housing funding, modest as it is. The House so far has omitted Louisiana's vouchers from its version of the Bill!

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Homelessness has doubled in New Orleans and increased significantly elsewhere in the devastated areas as a result of the hurricanes. Permanent Supportive Housing is a nationally proven way of ending and preventing homelessness. The concept is simple: an affordable apartment linked to case management services designed to help vulnerable people with mental and/or physical disabilities remain stably housed.

Advocates for the most vulnerable victims of Katrina and Rita have been fighting for 2 ½ years for these vouchers. We have gone to the Hill eight times to lobby for these vouchers. Both parties agree these vouchers are an emergency need, and Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal strongly supports them as essential to the recovery.

But the funding has repeatedly been deferred. The problem is getting our national leaders to give these vouchers - and the people who need them - the priority they deserve. With people with severe mental and physical disabilities being forced to live on the streets and in abandoned buildings when they return to their home communities, vulnerable people cannot wait any longer for help.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

No matter where you live across the nation, please take three minutes to call the below congressional leaders and urge them to include funding for 3000 Permanent Supportive Housing rent vouchers for disabled disaster victims in Louisiana! It's quick and easy - one minute per call -- just leave your message; you will not be asked any questions; but your call will have a real impact!

Contact Information:
The Hon. Nancy Pelosi (House Speaker): (202) 225-4965
The Hon. James Clyburn (Majority Whip): (202) 225-3315
The Hon. David Obey (chair of House Appropriations Committee): (202) 225-3365

A suggested message: "Please do not abandon the most vulnerable victims of Katrina and Rita. Please include funding for 3000 Permanent Supportive Housing vouchers for disabled Louisiana disaster victims in the Supplemental Appropriations Bill. Please also fund vouchers for Mississippi and Alabama. Thank you very much for supporting this request."

Please pass this Call to Action on to everyone - nationally and locally - who you believe cares about the suffering of the most vulnerable victims of our nation's largest housing disaster.

Please email Martha Kegel at mkegel@unitygno.org and let her know that you have phoned these three Congressional leaders. Thank you so very much for your compassion!