A Community Housing Rights March was held in New Orleans on December 3rd. Report and Video | Photos People gathered at the Iberville Projects on Basin Street to march in support of the rights of residents, particularly those who lived in public housing, to return home. The housing shortage, rapidly rising rents, and the lack of sustainable government supports have made it hard for thousands of people who wish to return to their homes and rebuild their lives. Evictions - both illegal and legal - are epidemic in the New Orleans area and returning home or the lack of ability to return to a home are causing further problems for the displaced residents of the flooded city. People who needed public assistance to meet basic needs, including housing, are finding the rug pulled out from under them as the city makes plans to tear down public housing, closing even livable and marginally damaged housing with little or no dialogue with displaced residents.

Despite the fact that less than 20% of New Orleans residents are back in town, a few dozen marchers gathered in front of the Iberville Public Housing projects just outside of the French Quarter to show support for the city's poor and working people. The crowd marched freely down Canal Street to the Federal encampment by the Mississippi Riverwalk. Groups present at the protest included the Coalition to Save Iberville, New Orleans Housing Emergency Action Team (NO HEAT), the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, and Common Ground Eviction Defense.