The depths of the affordable housing crisis in Acadiana became frighteningly apparent after an extended-stay hotel in Lafayette evicted residents earlier this month to make way for student housing. With their already limited options dwindling, some didn’t know what they would do.
Dozens who were staying at the WoodSpring Suites were given little notice that they would not be allowed to stay, they told reporters Alena Maschke and Ashley White. Some were told about a week before the eviction; others said they were told they were expected to move out the next day. They received little explanation other than a letter that said the hotel would be undergoing a “full renovation” and it could not extend any departure dates or accept new reservations.
It turns out the hotel was one of two in Lafayette being converted to house students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The university said it has seen record-breaking enrollment and the extra rooms would be an extension of its residence halls.
Some of the residents evicted had lived at WoodSpring Suites for months. They told reporters they wished they had been given more notice so they didn't have to scramble to find housing.
These were people struggling to make ends meet as it is, and with the unexpected eviction, their lives were thrown into deeper chaos. These were families who were trying to build back from loss or find better opportunities. But perhaps, at the end of the day, they were just numbers on a balance sheet to investors at SPI Holdings of Dallas, the private equity firm that has owned the hotel since 2022.
Maschke and White interviewed residents who had moved to Lafayette from other parishes in search of better-paying jobs. One woman was caring for a child and an elderly mother. Another was a survivor of domestic violence. The Lafayette Parish School System said that 28 children enrolled in public school last year listed WoodSpring Suites as their address. The evictions happened shortly before school started this year.
This is just the latest example of the squeeze faced by many low-income residents as rents rise and governments invest fewer dollars in subsidized housing. In Lafayette Parish, about 17% of households are below the federal poverty line. Another 25% are above the federal poverty level and don’t qualify for public assistance but do not earn enough to cover basic expenses. Meanwhile, public housing has a waiting list of more than 500 families, and after the state cut funding to Catholic Charities of Acadiana, the future of its shelter space remains in doubt.
Many of us want to turn away from the unhoused. But this saga should remind all of us that a few unlucky breaks can sink anyone’s prospects. To find long-term solutions, first we need to see the affordable housing crisis for what it is — a communitywide problem that should alarm all of us.