Katrina 3-Year Coverage: Affordable housing remains a barrier to rebuilding on Mississippi's coast

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi's battered coast is regaining population but still lacks affordable housing for its poorest residents, reports USA Today. The article goes on the say:

Lack of affordable housing remains a thorny challenge, according to a study by the Biloxi-based Mississippi Center for Justice. About 6,170 of damaged rental units in Mississippi's coastal counties are slated to be repaired, leaving about 4,500 unrepaired, according to the study.
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As of March, only 13% of the $1.6 billion in the state's emergency community development block grant funds had benefited lower-income victims, according to the report.

According to the Associated Press, Gulfport City Council member Ella Holmes-Hines said that many coast residents have been "delayed in moving on with our lives." In fact affordable housing remains a formidable barrier to rebuilding along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But the voices of low-income Mississippi residents continue to be pushed aside-as Facing South has previously reported, housing advocates have rallied against the State of Mississippi's decision to divert $600 million in emergency federal housing recovery funds to expand the Port of Gulfport when the state has yet to meet its post-Katrina housing needs.