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The nonprofit that provides the bulk of services for homeless in New Orleans faces questions from city and state leaders after an audit struggled to determine how effectively it spends public money, our news partners at WVUE-TV Fox 8 report.
A review from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor looked into how the city and Unity of Greater New Orleans spent more than $216 million in public money was spent on homeless initiatives between January 2019 and June 2024. One obstacle in measuring the effectiveness of Unity’s performance was the nonprofit’s resistance to producing detailed data and records the auditor requested.
“What we know is what programs, generally, the buckets of programs that were spent in,” Chris Magee, performance audit manager with the Legislative Auditor said. “And we were able to see which providers receive those funds. But what we weren’t able to do is take it that next step.”
For example, Unity reported spending $122.4 million on permanent housing programs, but it provided no details on how many people were placed in permanent homes.
Unity said it can’t share detailed information because its not allowed under privacy laws and rules of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the source of the public money provided to New Orleans for its homelessness services.
The Legislative Auditor issued subpoenas for the data, but Unity and other advocates for the homeless have asked a judge to block that request. The case is ongoing.
State Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, said he expects greater transparency from an organization given public dollars to provide a critical service in the city.
“When residents drive across the city and they see sprawling encampments, they don’t see $200 million being spent, I can assure you,” Knox said. “It raises red flags for me. And I think it’s fair that it would raise red flags for anyone.
“We can’t continue as we have for decades, just shelling out money to a nonprofit without any accountability. I’m disappointed in the fact that, given where we are today, that they are not more transparent.”
Read the full Fox 8 report here.