A year ago, Doug Parish was living under a bridge with everything he owned in a shopping cart. Today, he sits inside a small apartment he has pieced together one item at a time. A lamp. A coffee table. An entertainment center he bought with help from the Red Cross. Even the TVs he managed to save from a fire.

“I thought about that when you contacted me this morning,” he said. “I was like, oh God, it’s been a year since I was homeless.” Advertisement

Parish says the only reason he is inside this Thanksgiving is that UNITY of Greater New Orleans helped cover his rent while he tried to rebuild his life. “It’s the reason I’m not back under that bridge,” he said.

But now, thousands of people in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish could lose the same support that helped Parish get off the stree

See Full Page