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Release Date: December 9, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Rebecca S. Cotton 202-325-0197
New Orleans, La. – General Douglas O'Dell, Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, today said President Bush and his Administration have laid a solid foundation for rebuilding New Orleans and the greater Gulf Coast with aid that totals more than $126 billion. Local leaders are at the helm of the rebuilding, leading the effort in addressing affordable housing needs.
"Dollars can only do so much and government can't do it alone," O'Dell said. "It takes the commitment, initiative and action of local, citizen leaders—business leaders, community activists and faith-based and nonprofit organizations—which are bringing about the tremendous progress and rebirth of the Gulf Coast. They will continue to drive the rebuilding."
The symposium, which O'Dell called an "important and strategic building block for the development of new affordable rental housing," was hosted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at Tulane University. It followed a morning groundbreaking for a large housing complex in Orleans Parish that will include more than 340 public housing units. They are the first public housing units to be built in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
"Today's groundbreaking to bring new affordable homes to the old St. Bernard neighborhood is a testament to what partnerships can accomplish," said U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston. "That's the importance of the symposium—to bring our partners together in one room to discuss pooling federal, local, private-sector and non-profit resources to ensure New Orleans' rental housing needs are met well into the future."
Under a congressional mandate, the Office of the Federal Coordinator convened a similar summit on affordable rental housing in November with experts, advocates and other stakeholders to consider options for the Gulf Coast. That report is under final review before delivery to the Congress at the close of this year.
The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding has been engaged in facilitating and streamlining the recovery effort, providing key federal support and resources to state and local leaders, as well as reinforcing the federal government's commitment to the people of the Gulf Coast.
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This page was last reviewed/modified on December 9, 2008.
