On April 21, the Gaudet Committee announced the awarding of seven community grants. The Gaudet Community Grant provides funding for not-for-profit agencies that create, manage, and expand educational opportunities for African American children within the Diocese of Louisiana. The 2015 Gaudet Community Grant recipients are:
A’s & Aces Pathway to College is a sports-based youth development program that uses tennis as a hook for teaching New Orleans public school students lessons in academic performance, literacy and behavioral growth. The program works with 105 students from Edward Hynes Charter, Mildred Osborne Charter, ARISE Academy and at after-school programs at Dillard and at Joe Brown Park and in weekend clinics at Pontchartrain Park. Amount Awarded: $6,690
All Souls Episcopal Church and Community Center, as part of its mission to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward, focuses on the children of the neighborhood. They offer a comprehensive after-school program incorporating prayer, fitness, healthy dinners, violin, homework assistance and school-to-center transportation. All Souls is attempting to break the poverty cycle by helping children achieve self-esteem and grade-level proficiency in reading and math. They also offer a six-week summer camp. Amount awarded: $7,109
Anna’s Place NOLA Summer Camp‘s goal is to integrate academics with art enrichment and healthy lifestyle choices drawing together the education, arts and medical aspects of our work for children of Treme and the Seventh Ward. Anna’s Place recognizes that, based largely on family income, children who spend the summer with minimal supervision and few options lose ground academically. Anna’s Place summer camp seeks to address this inequality. Amount awarded: $8,363
Anna’s Place NOLA After School and Saturday Arts and Academic Program, like the Summer Camp, has a goal of integrating academics with art enrichment and healthy lifestyle choices drawing together the education, arts and medical aspects of our work for children of Treme and the Seventh Ward. Amount awarded: $1,673
Elan Ministries, Inc., Garden on Marais is conducting a 4-H program in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Using the 4-H model, “learn by doing,” with an emphasis on health, urban farming, nutrition education, and stewardship, is trying to address issues in the contexts of health, education, and society. Amount awarded: $4,182
St. John’s Episcopal Church Summer Tutoring and Art Classes is designed to help children escape poverty through offering them an opportunity to build a solid foundation of reading, writing, and math core subjects. The program will last for the 13 Saturdays between the closing of schools and their reopening. Amount awarded: $650
Trinity Education Enrichment Program (TEEP) offers a summer enrichment program for at-risk Orleans Parish school children. The program is offered free of charge to 5th and 6th graders. Campers receive breakfast and hot lunch daily, and attend classes taught by certified instructors in Science, Math, Art, Music, and Language Arts. Afternoon activities include recreation, games, career awareness, swimming, and field trips to places such as the World War II Museum. Also campers and their parents or care givers attend weekend retreats in Covington and Robert. Amount awarded: $6,690