Just Love the Story We Are Living
If you’ve been keeping up with The Sacred Thread series, you know we've been chatting for a while about how stories influence our lives...those we inherit, the ones we share, and the ones still in the making. So as we close this chapter (and because I can’t seem to stop telling stories), I figured it’s about time to share ours...the tale of Just Love – Greater New Orleans, or at least part of it. Read about our “past” here.
These days, Just Love is this beautiful, messy web of people and projects. Take the Good Samaritan Initiative, for instance, where love manifests in real, meaningful ways for our neighbors experiencing homelessness in Central City. Here, six small churches from various traditions come together to provide food, clothing, and housing support to about 50-60 individuals each week, totaling over 390 people a year and contributing $160,000 to the city-wide mission of caring for and housing everyone in need in New Orleans. This initiative has helped us become a service provider for UNITY of Greater New Orleans, which emphasizes housing-first solutions, coordinating outreach, referrals, and practical support to help our unhoused neighbors move from the streets to stability with dignity.
Then there’s Fostering the Families, a space where foster parents receive the same kind of care they offer to others. Over a dozen families and numerous foster kids gather twice a month to support one another, reminding each other they’re not alone, and that they truly matter. We also have the Little Free Library project, with the main one in Central City distributing hundreds of free books to adults and kids. More than that, it’s about fostering connections that lead to real relationships with our neighbors. All of this began with our collaboration with NAMI, where we’ve walked, trained, and spoken openly about mental health, breaking down stigma, connecting families to support groups, and ensuring that care is not just available, but truly accessible.
And we HAVE to talk about the Curious Krewe, which began as a simple experiment...what would happen if we gathered around one sincere question and let curiosity lead the way? Fast-forward, and we now have almost 400 people in the Krewe (yes, you read that right) who come together to listen, ask thoughtful questions, and practice the increasingly rare skill of just being present without trying to fix each other. No homework. No pop quizzes. Just show up as your whole, unrefined self and be ready to wonder out loud. When you start to get curious about someone else’s story, compassion tends to slip in. And compassion opens the door for real connections. Over time, those connections can blossom into community. We’ve witnessed strangers become friends, ideas morph into partnerships, and heavy days lighten up because someone simply asked, “Tell me more about that.” That’s what the Krewe is all about: one big question, a circle of courageous listeners, and a sense of belonging that you can genuinely feel.
We’ve also really leaned into building friendships across different faiths, bringing together pastors, priests, rabbis, imams, chaplains, and neighbors who might not identify with any particular tradition. It’s clear that the challenges our city faces are too vast for any one community to tackle alone. On the surface, this has meant co-hosting discussions, prayer services, and sharing resources. Together with our broader interfaith partners across the metro area, we’ve prayed during tough times, learned about each other's sacred traditions, and stayed engaged even when the conversations got tough...making unity more than just a buzzword, but a real way of working together.
These are just SOME of the ways our curiosity has sparked compassion, leading to connections and a sense of community that handles both immediate needs (like meals, rides, referrals) and deeper issues (like trust, healing, and shared courage) presently. In the next newsletter, we’ll take a closer look at where we think this will lead us in the future, which actually reflects both our past and our present.
Grace, peace, and love...right here and right now,
Sam
