| As hundreds of GA participants headed out today to spend the afternoon volunteering at service sites across New Orleans as part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable's "Praying With Our Legs" service initiative, I had the opportunity to spend some time at a wonderful place run by wonderful people -- the Clifford N. Rosenthal Community Center in the Bywater neighborhood, operated by ASI Federal Credit Union's nonprofit affiliate, A Shared Initiative. In addition to service projects, more than 80 GA participants toured sites across New Olreans this afternoon, including the Community Center, to learn about community based efforts to rebuild local neighborhoods.
JFSJ and ASI have partnered on a number of initiatives since Hurricane Katrina struck more than five years ago. The Community Center - which is named for the fearless leader of community development credit unions, Cliff Rosenthal, President of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions - runs several community education initiatives, including homeownership education and foreclosure prevention counseling, back to school drives, and financial literacy workshops, and also provides space for local nonprofit organizations. JFSJ funded ASI's work to purchase, gut, and renovate the community center after Katrina with grant funding from several Jewish Federations, including UJA-Federation of New York and Jewish Federations of North America. JFSJ later partnered with ASI to pilot the 8th Degree microlending initiative for low-income entrepreneurs in New Orleans. ASI has made 13 $15,000 microloans through the initiative, which was made possible by support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
It felt wonderful to introduce folks from all over the country to the work that Federation support made possible. In the wake of terrible tragedy and disaster five years ago, resilient communities have made significant progress in the long and hard work of rebuilding.
Photos from the Community Center to come soon! |
