Yves here. This article takes a celebratory tone about a community collective that serves the destitute and desperate. While members of the New Orleans acting together to help the homeless is admirable, the very existence of this center is an indictment of life in America. I lived in New York City in the bad old days of the early 1980s, right after its fiscal crisis. Then, there were flophouses called single room occupancy hotels, which provided very cheap lodging and kept many off the street. It\u2019s well documented that the high cost of housing is a big if not the driver of homelessness.<\/p>\n
And as for drug use, former prosecutor David in Friday Harbor has repeatedly pointed out that what in the UK is politely called \u201csleeping rough\u201d often leads to drug use, that it becomes necessary to cope. A friend here got a commission as a writer in Australia to spend three nights on the street and report on his experience. He recounts that even in that short duration of simulated homelessness, found it impossible to sleep and was offered and took a substance, he knew not what, to enable him to get some shut eye. So the assumption that drug use leads to homelessness often has the causality backwards.<\/p>\n
By Aneri Pattani.<\/a> Originally published at KFF Health News<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n From the outside, the abandoned Family Dollar store in the Lower 9th Ward looks intimidating. It\u2019s covered in graffiti, with aluminum cans and trash dotting the parking lot. It sits on a street with other empty lots and decayed buildings \u2014 symbols of the lasting devastation<\/a> this neighborhood, one of the city\u2019s poorest, has endured since Hurricane Katrina.<\/p>\n But inside, the store is a welcoming oasis. Twinkly string lights adorn racks of donated clothing. Shelves and bins overflow with children\u2019s books, allergy medications, and toiletries. Curtains cordon off one side of the room, where there\u2019s a stage for musicians and a neon sign depicting roller skates for weekly free skate nights.<\/span><\/p>\n The space is part free thrift store, part over-the-counter pharmacy, part punk show venue \u2014 and wholly \u201ca radical community center,\u201d said Dan Bingler, who runs the place.<\/p>\n Bingler is a waiter and bartender in the city who founded a mutual-aid organization called the Greater New Orleans Caring Collective<\/a>. He said the building owners allow him to use the space as long as he pays the water, electricity, and trash bills.<\/p>\n On Monday evenings, volunteers from other community organizations show up \u2014 some used to set up in the parking lot before Bingler opened the store. They offer free testing for sexually transmitted infections, basic medical care, hot meals, and sterile syringes and other supplies for people who use drugs.<\/p>\n The purpose of the space is simple, Bingler said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to make sure we provide for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Although it\u2019s been open for a few years now, the space has become even more crucial to this community in recent months, with the Trump administration slashing funding for many social service organizations and taking an aggressive approach to homelessness and drug use. In Washington, D.C., the administration has bulldozed tents<\/a> to push people living on the street to leave the city<\/a>. Nationally, it has called for people who use drugs to be forced into treatment<\/a>. It has decried harm reduction<\/a> \u2014 practices that public health experts say keep people who use drugs safe and alive but that critics say promote illegal drug use.<\/p>\n The community space in New Orleans \u2014 named the Fred Hampton Free Store after the famous Black Panther activist<\/a>known for bringing together diverse groups to fight for social reforms \u2014 aims to be a haven among this sea of changes.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t receive federal funding, state or local grants, or money from foundations, Bingler said. It\u2019s simply neighbors helping neighbors, he said, tearing up and adding, \u201cIt\u2019s a really beautiful thing to be able to share all this space.\u201d<\/p>\n All items inside are provided by people or organizations in the community. Bingler said one time a local hotel undergoing renovations donated 50 flat-screen TVs.<\/p>\n On nights the store is open, often more than 100 people visit, Bingler said.<\/p>\n One fall evening, dozens of people browsed for free clothing and over-the-counter medications. Others sat on the grass outside, chatting while keeping an eye on their bicycles or grocery carts full of possessions.<\/p>\n James Beshears stopped by the harm reduction group in the parking lot to get sterile supplies he uses to inject heroin and fentanyl. He said he\u2019d been in treatment for years but relapsed after his doctor moved away and he was referred to a clinic that charged $250 a day. Street drugs were cheaper than treatment, he said.<\/p>\n He wants to stop. But until he can find affordable care, places like the free store keep him going. Without it, he said, he\u2019d have \u201cone foot in the grave.\u201d<\/p>\n Another man in the parking lot was waiting for the arrival of Aquil Bey, a paramedic and former Green Beret well known for helping people overcome obstacles to getting health care. As soon as the man spotted Bey\u2019s black Jeep, he ran up.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got stage 4 kidney disease,\u201d the man said, adding that he was scheduled for treatments at a hospital but was struggling to get there.<\/p>\n \u201cDo me a favor,\u201d Bey said as he unloaded folding tables and medical equipment from his car. \u201cWhen our team gets here, come and see us. Maybe we can get you transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/00-new-orleans-.webp\")
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