Since the April 20th Deepwater Horizon explosion, the families of Louisiana’s coastal parishes have been made vulnerable. Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans has been on the ground since May 1, providing help and hope in this time of crisis. With the school year approaching, the children and families affected by the Gulf Oil Spill will need support services and stability more than ever.

Catholic Charities’ After School Assembly is a program that was started after Hurricane Katrina to set up a supportive after-school program for children who had recently suffered the trauma of the storm. This project will extend the program from the city of New Orleans into coastal parishes and provide fifty children with a safe environment that will give participants access to interactive learning opportunities, self-esteem building workshops, therapeutic art activities and other activities and services needed by the children affected by the spill.

This project will ensure that families living in affected areas receive the extra support they need to get their children off to a great start this school year and to help ease stress on families with after school support services and activities. Donate to this project, and help fishing families find a new, more sustainable future by providing an educational program for their children.

Over 70,000 people live in the coastal parishes of southeastern Louisiana, where seafood and oil businesses make up the area’s most important economic industries. The economy of southeast Louisiana was dealt a major blow in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when half of the industry’s shrimping and shellfish fleet were lost and offshore oil wells damaged. When the Deepwater Horizon explosion occurred, many families were just getting back on their feet from the losses they’d suffered as a result of the hurricane. The vitality of the seafood and oil industries in coastal parishes is closely linked to that of others that support the seafood business, namely bait shops, restaurants, and ports and docks. It is estimated that because of the oil spill and the moratorium on deepwater drilling, Louisiana will lose a minimum of 8,000 jobs in the coming months. The After School Assembly program will serve to lessen the effects of the loss in income for the working-class families of the coastal parishes.

Community member details not available yet.

Direct Impact of Your Project

The Catholic Charities Afterschool Program will provide tutoring and homework assistance as well as enrichment classes, recreational activities and a healthy snack for children of fishing families. Your generous contributions will help get these children off to a good start this school year:

• A contribution of $1200 will sponsor a child’s enrollment in After School Assembly for 1 year.
• A contribution of $600 will sponsor a child’s enrollment in After School Assembly for 1 semester.
• A contribution of $200 will cover one of After School Assembly’s monthly special events.
• A contribution of $50 will provide a child enrolled in After School Assembly with supplies for 1 year.

Extended Impact on Your Partner Community

The Educational Program will also help fishing families by:

• Easing stress on families at home by providing afterschool support services and activities for children
• Helping to build a sustainable future for these communities by addressing long term economic and environmental issues
• Broadened depth of knowledge which will provide insight into potential focus areas for improvement within the community that will prevent future disasters such as hurricanes or oil spills from deeply impacting the community
• Providing much needed aid in addition to $370,000+ in food donations and 6000 individuals served in counseling by Catholic Charities in 11 affected parishes.