Renowned musician and former Executive Director of the Harlem School of the Arts Darryl Durham founded the program in 2009 as an after school arts program for Treme-area youth. With a decade dedicated to disrupting cycles of poverty and violence in the Treme area, the youth and community outreach program is embarking on a $5.2 million capital campaign to increase impact through opening the Dodwell House Community Resource Center.
NEW ORLEANS, June 9, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- With a decade dedicated to disrupting cycles of poverty and violence in the Treme area, the youth and community outreach program Anna's Place NOLA is embarking on a $5.2 million capital campaign to increase impact through opening the Dodwell House Community Resource Center.
To date, the capital campaign for the project has raised over $3 million in donations, pledges, and grants and will be hosting a gala on October 21, 2022 for the Center.
Renowned musician and former Executive Director of the Harlem School of the Arts Darryl Durham founded the program in 2009 as an afterschool arts program for Treme-area youth. At the request of parents, Anna's Place added academic/STEM enrichment, and as needs were identified, life-skills training, health and wellness education, educational and cultural fieldtrips, and career/adulthood readiness programing.
The average household income in Anna's Place NOLA's direct service area is 43 percent lower than the Orleans Parish average. Over half of their residents live in poverty and nearly one third are without a high school diploma. All of Anna's Place NOLA participants identify as Black or African American, 96 percent live at or below the poverty level, and 80 percent attend schools that have received a grade of "C" or below.
"Throughout the years, hundreds of youth have been kept off the Murder Board and placed on the path to success thanks to Anna's Place NOLA. We have the template for success," said Founder Durham. The "Murder Board" is a list of New Orleans victims of violence posted since 2007 outside St. Anna's Episcopal Church, which houses Anna's Place. The Murder Board now contains over 2,500 names.
Today, Anna's Place NOLA has a 100 percent graduation rate among their K-12 participants. In 2021 alone, Anna's Place provided nearly 3,500 hours of enrichment through the youth program, over 3,000 healthy meals/snacks, and transportation to its students.
"The program has changed my son's life by helping him get into a private Jesuit high school with a scholarship which will give him opportunities he wouldn't have gotten if not in the program," said Parent Felicia Parish.
The program is hoping to expand a few blocks away from the church to a building called the Dodwell House, a historic structure which is being converted into a Community Resource Center. When completed, Anna's Place NOLA will increase the amount of people they serve and expand to assist whole families, said Project Director Diana Meyers.
Ms. Meyers said in the first two years of expanding to Dodwell House, the center hopes to double their student enrollment, serve 7,000 meals to the community, start a community garden, provide free health screenings, introduce adult literacy and expectant mother classes, provide job training opportunities, and open a coffee shop to serve as a business mentorship and training program for youth.
"The Dodwell House Community Resource Center and Anna's Place NOLA under one roof will instantly boost the morale of the community. As a native Tremé resident, we've longed for a place in the community we can all call home. We are looking forward to building partnerships with neighborhood schools, community businesses and city leaders, to ensure the Dodwell House Community Resource Center and Anna's Place NOLA can be the safe haven for not only the Tremé area but for Greater New Orleans as well. We look forward to being the blueprint used around the world to ensure 100 percent success for all youth and young adults," said Cavin Davis, Anna's Place NOLA Executive Director.
To find out more information or ways to donate, please visit http://www.dodwellhouse.org, email [email protected] or follow Dodwell House and/or AnnasPlaceNOLA on Facebook and Instagram @annasplacenola.
Media Contact
Devin Johnson, Brylski Company, 5048976110, [email protected]
SOURCE Anna's Place
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