Nine years after a 20-foot wall of water devastated New Orleans, the city still has the 2nd highest homelessness rate of all US cities. In early April 2014 the Presales Solution Center held a team meeting in New Orleans. As a Louisiana native, I knew we would be able to find plenty of opportunities to do something helpful as a group for this (still) recovering city. So we decided to organize a Kronos Gives Back event with the New Orleans Women’s Shelter.
Since 2007, the New Orleans Women’s Shelter has provided assistance to more than 500 women and children. Most of these women have not completed high school or held steady employment. Many of these women were children when Katrina turned their lives and families upside down. This shelter is focused on ending the cycle of poverty and homelessness for women and children by returning hope of living independently. 75% of the women who enter the program leave the shelter employed or enrolled in an educational program.
Chris Kearney, Kevin Arledge, Bill Bozeman,, and Dann O'Brien helping NOWS residents prepare resumes and apply for jobs.
Ten of us visited the shelter the morning of April 11, with a plan to fix computers in their common area, work with residents on computer skills and writing resumes, and provide workforce management consulting for the administrative staff.
On hand from Kronos were:
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Toni Kellam |
Kevin Arledge |
Mike Hutchens |
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Chris Kearney |
Bill Bozeman |
Dann O’Brien |
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Andy Brokaw |
Alex Kerin |
Jim Tompkins |
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Jay Meyers |
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Part of our group went straight to work in assessing and correcting problems with the 3 barely functional computers they had in the main community room. In the matter of a couple of hours all the computers were fully functional and connected to the internet. One team member even ordered printer supplies from his personal Amazon account to be delivered to the shelter. At the same time, residents ranging in age from 18 to 60 began to enter the room.
They weren't sure what to expect, and neither were we. I watched a group of total strangers begin to engage with each other and together build resume’s, cover letters, search for and apply for jobs online. By the end of each of these individual sessions, it was clear that we had made a positive impact on their lives. I saw hope emerge in their faces as they talked about the possibilities of finding work and taking action to embrace opportunities that would certainly improve their lives and the lives of their children. We took turns entertaining babies and toddlers while their mothers worked with our consultants. While all of this was going on, two of us consulted with the Executive Director and staffing manager to assess and streamline some of their Workforce Management systems and processes.
The Executive Director of the Shelter, Dawn Bradley Fletcher shared her thanks with this note and a few weeks later, they issued a press release for what we had done for their shelter.
Here are a few quotes some of the Kronos participants shared with me after the event.
