| |
Kingsley House
Over 100 Years of Commitment to New Orleans--Help Ensure There's 100 More!
Kingsley House
New Orleans, Louisiana
 
Kingsley House's mission is "educating children, strengthening families, building community." Kingsley House is one of only six agencies in Louisiana to have the distinction of being accredited by the Council on Accreditation, an external, objective appraisal that verifies the agency meets national standards of organizational strength and quality of service.
The oldest settlement house in the South, it has served more than a half a million people since 1896. It has been there for 19th Century immigrants, for their second and third generation descendants, and for today's inner-city families. The last decade has seen an amazing 75% growth in annual participation, from 4,000 in 1993 to more than 7,000 people in 2004.
Until Hurricane Katrina struck, Kingsley House served close to 7,500 people each year in Orleans and 12 surrounding parishes throughout Southeast Louisiana.
Needs
Urgent needs for Kingsley House are:
- Funds to meet payroll and maintain staff
At Kingsley House, where staff have been severely affected by Katrina themselves, the most immediate need is meeting payroll so displaced staff and their dependents can stay whole and so the agency will not lose capacity unlikely to be able to be replaced in the current environment. Although Katrina relief provided by the Red Cross, FEMA, and food stamps has been helpful, these benefits are time-limited, and many staff have mounting costs, such as temporary rentals. Kingsley House had been able to use its existing cash balance to provide three payrolls to staff, but as of October, it will have to take out a line of credit or withdraw restricted funds. While it has been in touch with state and federal funding sources, it has received no commitment from either to continue support to help maintain staff infrastructure through this ordeal.
- Temporary housing for displaced staff and participants
Many staff and participants have lost everything due to the flooding (and now reflooding from Rita) and have nowhere to return to, even as the city begins repopulating and Kingsley House works toward resuming operations.
- Housing and facility base in Baton Rouge
Due to the devastation in New Orleans, the primary base of social service operations over the next six months will be around the state capital of Baton Rouge. Kingsley House will likely be called upon to use its expertise to play a vital role as a service provider to displaced children and families. But there will be a need for temporary housing for staff and a temporary location for Kingsley House in the Baton Rouge area.
 Snapshot
Damage to the Kingsley House campus is somewhat more extensive than originally thought. We have significant damage to a large portion of the roof of one of our historic buildings and accompanying extensive internal water damage. We also have significant roof and water damage to our nationally renowned Pre-School building. Finally, our caretaker cottage suffered substantial roof and internal water damage. A major potential problem may also be the length of time it may take for our insurance carrier to pay our claim, which the adjuster has stated will be well within the seven-figure range. There are estimates it could take up to two years for all New Orleans-based claims to be paid.
All is not doom and gloom, though, in our state and agency. We still have about 35,000 square feet of working space available (about half of our facility) to assist returning children and families. In fact, our 175-year-old gymnasium building was not damaged at all. We have obtained the services of two construction firms, and repair work has already begun. We've also retained a well-regarded owner's representative to assist us throughout the process of reconstruction and restoration. On the statewide level, a construction firm has obtained a FEMA contract to build temporary housing villages in and around Baton Rouge to house evacuees for possibly up to 18 months. Kingsley House is part of a collaborative of New Orleans-based children and family service agencies that intends to provide wraparound services to more than 476 families in the first such FEMA village, including child care, mental health assessments, counseling and therapeutic services, case management, a senior center and health care enrollment.
Additionally, an effort is under way to develop a coordinated system of care among social and human service agencies in New Orleans, which could be a rare opportunity to create an entirely streamlined, seamless network of helping services to best benefit all of our returning residents. As the federal government expends funds for case management and related services for these displaced residents, we have been told Kingsley House will be looked to for leadership in providing case assessment, case management, therapeutic, and other vital services.
--Keith Liederman, CEO, Kingsley House
|
CWLA is extremely efficient: 94¢ of every dollar goes directly to hurricane-related activities.
 Back to Top  Printer-friendly Page  Contact Us
|
|
