Reconcile New Orleans transforms the lives of young adults (ages 16-24) and the community through the ministry of reconciliation.
We do this by encouraging personal growth, providing workforce development and training, promoting entrepreneurship, working with businesses, nonprofits and people of faith to support this transformation, and building strong communities through community economic development.
We are a community of concerned people committed to addressing the system of generational poverty, violence and neglect in the New Orleans area. Our innovative life skills and job training program assists young people (ages 16–22) from severely at-risk communities who desire to make a positive change in their lives. Reconcile’s students arrive facing a vast array of challenges, from extreme poverty and high school attrition to homelessness, violence, and participation in the juvenile justice system. Nonetheless, these young people possess a deep desire to break the cycle and become productive, contributing members of society.
Building Hope
In 1996, Rev. Harry Tompson, S.J., then pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, joined with concerned community members Craig Cuccia and Tim Falcon to address the system of neglect, violence, and generational poverty that had plagued out-of-school youth in New Orleans’ troubled Central City neighborhood. Gathering with likeminded community activists in prayer, research, and dialogue, the group worked hard to understand the difficult social reality.
Using funds from generous donors, the founders purchased a blighted but historic five-story building in the heart of Central City to serve as the center of Reconcile’s operations and be the cornerstone for the broader rehabilitation of the neighborhood.
Changing Lives
Cafe Reconcile’s Workforce Development Program has successfully graduated more than 1,500 youth between the ages of 16 and 24. These students leave the 12-week program with basic independent living skills, interpersonal skills and work skills, enabling and empowering them to successfully enter the workforce.
Currently, Cafe Reconcile strives to provide:
Scaling Impact
Project Background: With long-term support from our supporters, Reconcile New Orleans has established a sustainable model for helping disadvantaged youth achieve career success. Café Reconcile now has a 15-year track record of success, 1,500 program alumni, 100 active partnerships, and more than 400 requests to support similar efforts in other communities around the world.
The Need: Tulane University’s Cowen Institute in 2014 found that New Orleans has 30,000 disconnected youth – the largest per capita population of young people, ages 16-24, who are not in school and not working of any major metropolitan area in the nation. Yet, this is a national issue. In the United States, 6.7 million youth, ages 16-24, are not in school and not working. These young people cost our nation’s taxpayers $93 billion per year in lost tax revenues and increased cost for social services.
The Opportunity: Café Reconcile has a model that can be expanded to address the needs of tens of thousands of these disconnected young people in communities across the country, but we currently lack the capacity for significant expansion.
Without the support of generous donors, Reconcile’s mission of transformation would not be sustainable. In short, we need help from concerned community members who are interested in joining our cause and partnering with us to change lives. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Reconcile today!