Renovating the affordable housing units managed by the Lake Charles Housing Authority that sustained damage during Hurricanes Laura and
Delta is about halfway done, director Ben Taylor said last week.

A lack of affordable housing since Hurricane Laura’s August 2020 landfall has led to a demand that simply cannot be met. Of the 456 public housing units managed by the authority, about 35 percent, or 159, are livable and occupied, Taylor said.

“We’re not holding units, believe me,” he said.

Roughly 400 residents who lived in authority-managed homes that were deemed unlivable after the hurricanes remain scattered throughout the
country. One is living in Alaska, Taylor said.

“There are a lot of people in the Denver area, Dallas, all throughout Houston, New Orleans, Lafayette, Jennings,” he said.

After Hurricane Laura, the housing authority amended its occupancy plan so that it could use vouchers to relocate residents whose homes were deemed unlivable, Taylor said.

“We’re still doing that,” he said.

Taylor stressed the need for more federal disaster supplemental relief to fully deal with the ongoing post-hurricane housing shortage. So
far, Congress has allocated $600 million to Southwest Louisiana for Hurricanes Laura and Delta, but it hasn’t made its way here yet. Mayor Nic Hunter said last week that the state Office of Community Development estimated the housing needs alone for Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta are more than $900 million.

“We’re pretty resilient,” Taylor said. “We don’t sit here and whine, but it’s time to whine.”

Taylor said only 35 of the 114 housing units at Greinwich Village are currently occupied and are regularly inspected to ensure they are in livable condition. Roofing work on the remaining units was recently completed, and the housing authority will advertise for bids on interior repairs within the next couple of months, he said. The roof installation was paid for through insurance proceeds, he said.

Many residents who lived in Greinwich Village are elderly and now living with family, Taylor said. Those who were eligible moved to Section 8 housing, left town or found other housing in town.

Only two out of the 50 units at Woodway Park off McNeese Street are occupied, Taylor said. Along with sustaining wind damage from Hurricane Laura, the units flooded during Hurricane Delta and during the historic flooding last May. Crews are installing new roofs there, he said. About 20 of the 68 units at St. Mary Drive Public Housing Complex are occupied, with the rest under repair, Taylor said. He said 71 out of 200 public housing units at Dixy Drive are occupied. Taylor said the authority is looking to convert the area into a Choice Neighborhood Grant, a program under the Department of Housing and Urban Development that would allow for the gathering of a package of social services to create a community.

The Golden Arms housing, strictly for elderly residents, has about 25 out of 80 units occupied, Taylor said. He said there is a tax credit application to have the development totally renovated, with those living in units eventually being relocated or issued a voucher.

Six of the 22 units on the east side of the Mayfield Public Housing complex are occupied, Taylor said.

The authority is also doing interior repairs at Willow Manor, a Section 8-11 development located off Louie Street for physically disabled residents. Taylor said four of the 20 duplexes are occupied.

Work on 233 affordable housing units at Clark, Carver and Meadow, all former public housing developments, is done, Taylor said. He said the authority is finishing up paperwork to convert and close these units to the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program.