[STICC] Accountability Statement of the St. Thomas Irish Channel Consortium

(Editor's note: This "Accountability Statement" as well as the report "A Dream Realized" [2] and the "Organizational Diagrams of the Kuji Center and STICC" [3] come from the community organizing efforts of the St. Thomas Residents Council of the St. Thomas Housing Development, and STICC, a coalition of institutions near St. Thomas working to act accountably to the residents of the St. Thomas community. The organizing was facilitated by The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond from the late 1980's to the late 1990's.
By the time Katrina hit New Orleans, HANO {Housing Authority of New Orleans}, HUD (U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development), and a private developer had successfully used HUD's Hope VI Project monies to destroy the St. Thomas projects, once home to thousands of low income African Americans. The new housing is called "River Gardens," a so-called 'mixed income development,' which houses 60 low income families, some middle income apartments, a Wal-Mart, and a planned high income tower for wealthy (mostly white) residents.
Information on the River Gardens Development comes from Bill Quigley's "HUD to New Orleans Poor – 'Go F(ind) Yourself (Housing)!'" June 16, 2006. See www.justiceforneworleans.org [4] and www.survivorsvillage.com [5] for more on struggles to keep public housing.)

Next: STICC and Kuji organizations [6].