NEW ORLEANS – On Oct. 26, the NOLA Coalition issued its Year One Grant Report. The report analyzes how $2.3 million, the first tranche of funds it has invested in 27 different youth service organizations, has impacted young people throughout New Orleans. The NOLA Coalition is a group of nearly 550 nonprofit, civic and business organizations working together to improve youth services and reduce crime in the city.
“The NOLA Coalition is grateful for the business and philanthropic community for their generosity in supporting youth service organizations in New Orleans, said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of GNO Inc. and one of the organizers of the coalition. “By investing in our youth, we will create a safer and more prosperous city for everyone.”
Funds were distributed in two ways: more than $900,000 through the United Way of Southeast Louisiana’s granting process to Orleans Parish nonprofits and $1.35 million via direct corporate and private funders in the name of the NOLA Coalition.
“The results from the initial cycle of NOLA Coalition grants demonstrate a significant first step in providing adequate resources to our youth, but they are merely a down payment,” said Michael Williamson, United Way of Southeast Louisiana president and CEO. “We need continued support from our coalition’s supporters to prove these grants aren’t simply financial. They are an investment in hope, in potential, in opportunity. And New Orleans young people deserve the long-term results the grants, coalition and partners like United Way can provide.”
These donations supported a wide range of programs for New Orleans residents, including workforce development, recreation, childhood literacy, youth advocacy, STEM education and family support.
The coalition said that initiatives that were funded have impacted over 5,300 young people in New Orleans.
The full report can be accessed online here.
