Despite critical reports and investigative hearings of government failures, despite the flurry of commitments to confront poverty in the U.S. -- six months after Katrina, little has changed. It's unconscionable that the same vulnerable people abandoned in the height of the storm could again be neglected in the recovery. There are still thousands of people who don't have a place to live and don't have answers to the most basic questions about their futures in the Gulf Coast. |
It is time to make good on the nation's promises. More funds for affordable housing must be made available immediately, through the new money that must be approved by Congress and through state plans that target the lowest income communities. This is the critical first step to a long road to recovery that builds back better, through federal support of local initiatives. |