The Long Road From C.J. Peete to Harmony Oaks

Summary

This report summarizes how McCormack Baron Salazar, a development firm, and its nonprofit subsidiary, Urban Strategies, involved residents in an 18-month redevelopment of New Orleans’ C.J. Peete public housing complex after Hurricane Katrina. The National Housing Institute report takes an up-close look at how those charged with redeveloping the public housing development worked with residents throughout the process — and what they learned along the way. 

Table of Contents

• Left Behind, More Than Once
• “Partnershipping” in a Devastated Town
• Post-Katrina Timeline
• Peete and Its Residents
• Building Trust
• Public Housing in New Orleans
• HOPE VI
• Bricks into Homes
• Planning the New Community – And Its Park
• Jobs and Literacy
• Residents Returning
• C.J. Peete to Harmony Oaks: The Numbers
• Lessons Learned from Harmony Oaks Redevelopment
• A Note on the Role of Philanthropy

Key Takeaway

Listen and Prove Yourself

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, when coming into a complex political environment and culture like that in New Orleans, service providers, funders and others need to first listen and prove themselves – both to local nonprofits and the residents whom they aim to serve. It helps to have a local development partner.