lebanonboro.com

South Ridge Community Church, in its' continued efforts of aid and support to the Kenner and 9th Ward areas of Louisiana, is collecting care packages for distribution to the homeless in the two areas.

Attached is a link from a recent article from USA today, March, 2008 which provides an overview of the homelessness in the New Orleans region.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-16-neworleans-homeless-rate_N.htm?POE=click-refer

Some highlights of that article includes:

NEW ORLEANS — The homeless population of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina has reached unprecedented levels for a U.S. city: one in 25 residents.

An estimated 12,000 homeless accounts for 4% of New Orleans' estimated population of 302,000, according to the homeless advocacy group UNITY of Greater New Orleans. The number is nearly double the pre-Katrina homeless count, the group says.

'ROUGH GOING': Homeless still feeling Katrina's wrath

The New Orleans' rate is more than four times that of most U.S. cities, which have homeless populations of under 1%, said Michael Stoops, executive director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless. The cities with homeless rates closest to that of New Orleans are Atlanta (1.4%) and Washington (0.95%), he said.

A USA TODAY 2005 survey of 460 localities showed one in 400 Americans on average were homeless.

The percentage of New Orleans' homeless is one of the highest recorded since U.S. housing officials began tracking homelessness in the mid-1980s, said Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who has studied homeless trends for more than 20 years.

"In a modern urban U.S. city, we've never seen it," he said of New Orleans' homeless rate.

If interested in donating items or participating in some other way, please contact South Ridge Community Church at (908) 735-5252 or Mary Logan at 908-236-2425