Celebrating the Growth of the Hispanic Community in New Orleans

Martin Gutierrez is executive director of Neighborhood and Community Services and executive director of the Hispanic Apostolate at the Archdiocese of New Orleans. September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage month. During this time, we celebrate the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States, while also recognizing the rich and wonderful Hispanic [...]

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The Public Will and the Public Won’t: A Question for Our Readers

What’s the line between public and private responsibility when it comes to providing healthcare, education, and other services for the poor? Is it the proper role of foundations to plug the gaps created by retreating public funds? In what domains should the government become your brother’s keeper? In public education? healthcare for the uninsured? food for the hungry?

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Q&A with Kira Orange Jones, director of Teach For America in New Orleans

Kira was appointed executive director of Teach For America – Greater New Orleans in 2007. Prior to working at Teach For America, Jones founded and served as executive director of Right Quick Productions, a nonprofit media organization in Baton Rouge, La., dedicated to amplifying community voices through documentary filmmaking. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.Ed. focused in school leadership from Harvard University.

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Small is Beautiful

This past August 29th, as we commemorated the 4th anniversary of Katrina and its aftermath, I was reminded of the Red Cross’s response to the storms. I was mindful of the fact that there were certain things only large, well-networked organizations could do.

But how often do we remember that small can also be beautiful and effective?

Small, community-based nonprofit organizations have a kind of loveliness that their larger, better-established cousins don’t often share. When these small organizations are effective, and when they’re run by dedicated leaders, their loveliness borders on the sublime.

What these organizations lack in scale, they more than make up for in their knowledge of their communities and their responsiveness to client needs …

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