A temporary homeless shelter in Gentilly launched under Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to solve New Orleans’ homelessness crisis had taken in over 100 residents by Thursday, while others passed on a bed there amid questions about its condition and services.
Stacy Horn Koch, a New Orleans native with a track record of curbing the city’s homelessness rate who was tapped to run the France Road shelter, said the building is fully staffed and its early stumbling blocks — chilly indoor temperatures, a broken sewer line, and residents’ belongings mistakenly winding up in an inaccessible storage area — were being worked through quickly.
By Thursday morning, 137 people had relocated to the site, added Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness spokesperson Mike Steele. Residents were bused there after State Police and other officials on Wednesday began clearing homeless encampments in New Orleans’ downtown core at Landry’s request.
Koch said that case management and other services for homeless people would be kicked into high gear once residents were settled. The facility is also operating as a low-barrier shelter, with few restrictions on who may enter. No drugs are allowed on site.
“It’s still moving day, and we’re getting everything together,” said Koch, who was tapped by a Baton Rouge-based state contractor, the Workforce Group, to oversee the shelter.
But the plan by Landry, which calls for 200 people to receive mental health services, food and medical care on site, has been blasted by some homeless service providers, residents and local politicians, who have questioned whether the state is equipped to serve one of New Orleans’ most vulnerable populations.
That criticism grew more pointed late Wednesday and Thursday, after City Councilmember Lesli Harris, whose district includes the downtown area Landry has targeted, took a tour of the shelter and described areas “that were not yet prepared to fully meet the needs of its residents.”
She said the building was “extremely cold” on Wednesday, that a sewer line issue had made “indoor bathroom and showers unusable,” and that there was not yet counseling and other services for the residents who showed up.
Chris Aylwen and Herbert Jones, who boarded a bus headed to the shelter on Wednesday morning but turned around and left once they saw the setup, also said the warehouse was cold and appeared unprepared for guests when they arrived. They also said they boarded the buses after police threatened them with arrest. State officials have said those who refuse to comply with their plan could face “enforcement action;” state law lets police enforce bans on obstructing public rights of way.
The two returned downtown with all of their belongings still inaccessible at the shelter, they said.
“I’m kind of petrified,” said Aylwen in an interview following a press conference housing advocates held Wednesday outside of City Hall to protest the shelter plan. “I don’t know what will happen next.”
Per Landry’s plan, which had been in the works for weeks prior to a Monday announcement, up to 200 people will be sheltered at the 70,000-square-foot warehouse at 5601 France Road. The warehouse, owned by the Port of New Orleans, will be open through at least Mardi Gras on March 4, as Landry’s administration aims to keep New Orleans’ streets clear for the February Super Bowl LIX and the Carnival season.
Landry has said that those who have means to travel elsewhere would be given bus or train tickets out of state, and Steele said the state will connect residents with those tickets only after case managers have verified that people will have a place to go once they arrive elsewhere.
The first round of sweeps downtown will continue through Saturday, Landry spokesperson Kate Kelly said. State officials will continue to clear encampments through Mardi Gras, though there’s no set plan for how often they will happen, added Shane Guidry, Landry’s unelected adviser on New Orleans affairs.
The plan came as Landry and his boosters have publicly criticized an effort by Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration to house homeless residents, work that has connected over 800 people with housing since 2023.
It also followed a move by Landry ahead of the Taylor Swift concerts last fall to place residents in one location under the U.S. 90 overpass, which sparked a lawsuit by homeless residents that Landry’s administration litigated to the state Supreme Court.
In large notices posted across the downtown area earlier this week, the warehouse was pitched to homeless residents as a facility with air conditioning and heating; showers and working toilets, and case management services, to eventually connect residents with permanent homes.
Harris said that wasn’t the case when she arrived on Day 1. Aylwen and Jones also decried the setup, with Jones saying that he and others were told there would be a curfew and that he could not return to the shelter after finishing work late even if they wanted to.
In an interview Thursday, Steele said the facility does not have a curfew, and that other issues Harris raised are being addressed.
Steele said that keeping the large warehouse warm on opening day was a challenge, as crews kept the facility’s large loading doors open on Wednesday to bring in needed equipment, thus letting cold air in. But the heating system works, he said.
Crews have installed a temporary septic system to keep the facilities functioning while the sewer issues are fixed, Steele said.
Koch, a former Covenant House director, said that case managers are working on-site to connect residents to benefit programs and to permanent housing. Many residents are already in the process of obtaining housing through the city’s homeless services organizations, and staff with those organizations are already present on site to meet with their clients, she said.
Residents were also being connected with existing mental health services off-site, she said.
“Our plan is to house everybody that’s here using the appropriate resource,” said Koch, who added that the facility would maintain its own data management system to track clients and would also enter information into the database operated by UNITY of Greater New Orleans to ensure that services aren’t duplicated.
Though the shelter plan has its critics, UNITY is not among them— specifically due to Koch’s involvement. In her three years leading Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s plan to end homelessness, Koch and a coalition of nonprofit agencies decreased the number of homeless people in the city from over 6,600 to over 2,300.
Koch said the facility was also currently providing clothing to some residents whose necessary belongings were mistakenly moved into an area designated for storage. Confusion and mixed directions about the packing process as encampments were cleared Wednesday morning had led to some residents’ necessary belongings — clothing, medication, documents, and more— winding up in a storage area that residents “do not have access to,” she said.
“We are working on a way through that,” Koch said.
