NEW ORLEANS — The First 72+ is a New Orleans nonprofit organization that provides support to people recently released from prison, including providing transitional housing, job training, and technical life skills.
As part of his line-item budget vetoes, Governor Jeff Landry removed a $250,000 appropriation for a First 72 housing project.
“We know that when formerly incarcerated people have access to affordable housing or accessible housing, it reduces the recidivism rate by 40 percent, First 72+ Executive Director Troy Glover said. “For us, that’s a safer city.”
In total, the governor took $4.5 million from nonprofits out of the $48 billion state budget.
In his veto message, Landry said he decided on what programs to cut by evaluating whether they “serve an appropriate government function and if the appropriation was an efficient and effective use of state resources.”
Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans said vetoing First 72’s funding sends the wrong message.
“I think taking this money away makes New Orleans less safe,” Knox said. “This whole program is about re-entry. It’s about giving new hope and a fresh start to formerly incarcerated people, those individuals would typically go on the streets.”
Losing the state funding is expected to have a major impact on the First 72+ expansion plans. The executive director says he hopes to make up at least part of that shortfall through alternative fundraising.
“This would have built three or four additional tiny homes and because we use it for longer-term support, that means it would have served over 20 folks,” Glover said.
“The First 72 organization has established themselves and the city of New Orleans the works that they’ve done are most impressive,” Knox said.
Governor Landry promised to work with lawmakers to develop criteria for what type of non-governmental organization requests represent the best use of scarce state resources.
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