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This morning at 9 am*, activists will gather in front of the LA Housing Authority Commission to protest the agency’s 2011 plan. The Los Angeles Housing Authority owns 15 properties in the city. A site can encompass many as 400 to 600 units spread out over multiple buildings. Public Housing is a federal program but each state has some flexibility in organizing its system. Those who are approved for public housing are low-income, and pay no more than 30% of their income in rent. Public housing residents include families, the elderly, and the disabled who are unable to afford rent anywhere else in the city. Public Housing in the U.S. is notorious for problems of violence and poor living conditions. Despite this demand is high and there is a waiting list of applicants that can stretch well beyond 5 years in many areas. Each year the LA Housing Authority must submit a budget and plan to the Federal Government, and LA’s 2011 Agency plan has drawn impassioned protest from housing activists and public housing tenants. A major point of contention is a proposal to turn-over all 15 public housing sites to a non-profit entity. In doing so, the units will all fall under a different category of public housing, Section 8. Activists and tenants are alarmed that the changes proposed will ultimately make public housing less accessible to many who would otherwise qualify.

GUEST: Leonardo Vilchis, Director of Union De Vecinos (Union of Neighbors)

Find out more at www.uniondevecinos.org and www.cangress.org

To make a donation to the Union de Vecinos for their legal strategy against the Housing Authority, visit http://www.causes.com/causes/325153.

*: The LA Housing Authority moved up its hearing to 8 am at the last minute.