Back to School in New Orleans

It has been said that two keys to rebuilding New Orleans are a re-built, solid levee system and a re-built, solid public education system. It’s ironic how both failures wreaked such havoc on our community. One took the blink of an eye and the other took decades.

I’m no engineer. I don’t own a bulldozer. But I can do something about public education in New Orleans. And together, you and I and our friends can make a real difference. If you care about New Orleans. If you care about the City’s renewal, about its rebirth. If you think public education is an integral component of a healthy, vibrant community. Please take some time to learn what New Orleans Outreach is doing to make public education in New Orleans something we can look upon with pride.

-Mike Boyle,  Director of Development for New Orleans Outreach

It’s Back to School time again. School starts here this week or next week, depending on the district, and everyone is gearing up for new schedules, routines and activities and events. It can be argued that each education system has its own flaws and issues. However, in the case of New Orleans, there has been systemic failure in the public school system for years prior to the devestation Hurricane Katrina wrought in 2005. Since then, there have been several bright spots in the educational system.

One of those bright spots have been the work that New Orleans Outreach has been able to do through community partnerships, volunteers, mentors, teachers and afterschool arts and academic programming.  Like Mike noted in his commentary above – it takes a lot of skill, know-how and materials to fix a levy system, but it only takes one person who cares to make a difference in the life of a child.

For the next six weeks, you’ll hear stories of success from those closest to New Orleans Outreach as we focus on going “Back to School in New Orleans”.

In the meantime, we encourage you to check out this video on YouTube or these photos, which gives a glimpse into the amazing work Outreach is doing for children in New Orleans. Take the time and share them with a friend or family member who also believes in improving education.

It only takes one to care and collectively, we can all make a big difference.

-Sara

Best Buddies in New Orleans

 

As part of the final stage of the Operation Kids Rebuilding Dreams in New Orleans campaign, funding was provided to re-launch the New Orleans chapter of Best Buddies. As we assessed the needs and priorities of giving in a community that needed so much, you may wonder what the motivation was to include Best Buddies.

According to research, approximately 53% of people with intellectual disabilities will never receive a visit from anyone outside of a paid caregiver or a family member.  In Louisiana, this means about 155,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities may never have a friend. And with all the focus on reconstruction, many other things were set by the wayside and forgotten.

Through the funding that Operation Kids and Drew Brees’ Brees Dream Foundation raised and provided for Best Buddies Louisiana, friendship programs throughout the Greater New Orleans Area have been set up to facilitate approximately 400 one-on-one friendships between children with intellectual disabilities and a mentor.  Through this program more  than 2,000 children will be impacted statewide.

The impact of a one-to-one mentoring relationship is an amazing thing. Yes, the person with the disability is benefited in many ways, and that warms the soul. But equally benefited are the mentors, often richly blessed by their relationships with their buddies..

As adults, many of us have found our way into volunteering and making charitable donations. Whether in church groups, local chapters of national charities or a cause or issue of personal importance to us, many adults give of their time and resources. But part of the magic of Best Buddies is the fact that these mentors, these “Buddies,” are not adults. They are middle and high school age students, and in some chapters college students, who at an unusually young age have caught the vision of putting the needs of others first. This is remarkable. It has been our observation over the last 10 years that actions like these put a young person on a path of service and caring in a unique and profound way throughout the rest of their lives.

In keeping with out desire to realize a “multiplier effect” from our giving – helping as many people as possible through each donation, the multiples on this gift seem obvious: children in need benefited, young people with capacity and a little time changed forever, and a community raised up by the effort. The math on this project is very strong indeed – hundreds of children and teens in New Orleans are taking advantage of the expanded program and reaching out to those who are profoundly grateful for their friendship. Hundreds of intellectually disabled children and youth in New Orleans and Louisiana have been able to expand their horizons through friendship, mentoring and other opportunities made available through these relationships.  The benefits gained from these relationships spread far beyond the buddy pair – into their families, their neighborhoods, their schools and the community at large.

We salute the young mentors of New Orleans and the people involved with Best Buddies Louisiana who keep this program thriving, even through challenging times.

-Rick