Urban Planners, Katrina Survivors to Build Shared Vision at ACORN Community Forum on Rebuilding New Orleans

ACORN Rebuilding Alliance convenes in Baton Rouge Nov. 7-8th

Displaced New Orleans residents and leading urban planners, architects, and affordable housing specialists will meet in Baton Rouge November 7-8th for the ACORN Community Forum on Rebuilding New Orleans, a two-day conference to develop rebuilding plans for New Orleans that speak to the needs and dreams of the city’s low and moderate income residents.

Attendees plan to tour New Orleans neighborhoods on Monday, November 7th from 10am-5pm, The Conference itself will begin at 6pm that evening in Baton Rouge, and continue the morning of Tuesday, November 8th through 6pm.

“Right now, too many others — the Bush Administration, private contractors, major New Orleans developers — are making decisions about our neighborhoods and city without any input from the majority of New Orleans citizens,” said Tanya Harris, of Louisiana ACORN and the newly-formed ACORN Katrina Survivors Association (AKSA). “The people who have been hardest hit by Katrina need to have a voice in the rebuilding process.”

The two-day event will be webcast for Katrina survivors, ACORN members, activists, and educational institutions across the country to participate. Participants from outside of Baton Rouge who will be viewing the dialogue via webcast will be able to communicate via email to the forum attendees.

This event is sponsored by Louisiana ACORN in association with the College of Art & Design at Louisiana State University, the Association of Community Design, the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University, the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute, the Planners Network, and a number of other Louisiana-based organizations.

“The exciting thing about this conference is that experts in the fields of urban planning and public policy will work in partnership with the people who will be most directly influenced by the rebuilding plans implemented in New Orleans,” said David Cronrath, Dean of LSU’s College of Art & Design. “This conference is a first step in building a realistic plan for recovery which speaks to the hopes and dreams of all the people of New Orleans.”

Elected officials co-sponsoring the event include City Council members Jacqueline Brechtel Clarkson, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, Oliver Thomas, and Cynthia Willard-Lewis; State Representatives Cheryl Gray, Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, Charmane Mrchand, and Cedric Richmond; Senators Anne Duplessis, Edwin Murray, and Derrick Shepard; Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden; Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman; and others.

The event will found a coalition called the ACORN Rebuilding Alliance, which will seek to:

• Frame a vision for rebuilding that serves the interests of all residents;
• Develop specific plans and proposals that are technically informed and resident-led;
• Send a message that resident voices must be consistently heard by city, state, and federal officials as key decisions are made in the months and years ahead.

For information about the webcast, contact Jeff Karlson at acorn@acorn.org or by phone at 225-925-5558. Or visit www.acorn.org/Katrina for further details. Press inquiries are welcome; please contact acorncomm@acorn.org for more information.

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ACORN is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 175,000 member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 80 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members. Our priorities include: better housing for first time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools. We achieve these goals by building community organizations that have the power to win changes -- through direct action, negotiation, legislation, and voter participation. ACORN is an acronym, and each letter should be capitalized. ACORN standsfor the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.