Relationship turned into shared action and care that shows up.
Collaboration
New Orleans is not short on people who need help, and it is not short on people trying to help. What goes missing is the connection between them.
So most of what we do here is not new programming. It is showing up alongside churches, organizations, and neighbors already doing good work, and making it easier for the rest of us to join in. There is a way to volunteer here for just about any schedule.
What’s coming up
The Good Samaritan Initiative
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Central City · every Tuesday, 1:30 to 3:00pm
Every Tuesday afternoon, congregations from four traditions gather in Central City to share a meal with neighbors experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. A hot meal, gently used clothing, hygiene supplies, and shelter vouchers for the Salvation Army.
Through July 2026... 1,304 meals, 1,018 guests welcomed, and 329 shelter vouchers connected, carried by 341 volunteers.
Bring food. Serve a plate. Sort clothing. Or just come sit down. Every one of those is the work.
Inside the Tuesday Meal
One question sits printed on every table.
People experiencing homelessness get approached constantly with questions about needs, eligibility, and problems. Curious Conversations asks something else entirely... what is your favorite smell, and what makes it so good. Guests and volunteers answer the same question.
If you volunteer, you get a small card that says the thing worth saying out loud: you do not need to fix anything. Pull up a chair. Ask the question. Listen more than you speak. One real conversation is enough.
Nearly all of our regular volunteers are over fifty, and so are most of our guests. Which means what is actually happening on Tuesdays is older adults building belonging for other older adults. We did not plan that. It is one of the best things about it.
Here is what it can look like. David was introduced to me by the pastor at Mt. Zion after he mentioned that the app he uses to find free meals did not list our ministry at all. That one conversation became a weekly one. Somewhere in there we learned he had spent years as a chef in fine dining kitchens, and he has since shared his recipes with us, hoping some of them might end up on the table at the very meals he now attends.
Curious Collabs
Some of the best things we do belong to somebody else.
When an organization we trust is doing good work, we treat their events like ours and invite our people to show up. No duplicated effort, no territory, just more hands in the room. We call those partners our Circling Partners... the people and organizations we keep circling back to.
If you are looking for a way to serve and Tuesday does not work, this is usually where we point you.
And if you run an organization and this sounds like something you want, we would rather build with you than around you.
Curiosity in the Wild
We keep Little Free Libraries around the city. Take a book, leave a book, no card and no due date. 190 books went home with neighbors in Central City so far this year.
Want one where you live or work? We will help you figure out whether the spot is a good fit, get it standing, and keep it stocked. And if you already have one, we can help you keep books in it.
Foster the Families
Foster families carry more than most people see.
We gather with foster families, caregivers, and licensed therapists for meals, spiritual care, and practical support. It is a smaller, quieter room by design, and it works because it stays that way.
If you foster, or you work with families who do, reach out and let's talk.
Faith Communities Working Together
A city gets stronger when its religious communities actually know each other, and stronger still when they work together on the things no one can fix alone.
Greater New Orleans Interfaith Association
More than two hundred faith leaders across Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Baha'i, and Hindu communities, in one room, on purpose. GNOIA is where relationships get built... shared learning, shared service, and the simple work of knowing your neighbors in ministry.
Communities of Hope Interfaith Coalition
Where those relationships turn into civic work. Communities of Hope brings faith institutions together around the improvement of the city itself, in direct partnership with the Mayor's Office.
When serving turns into knowing people
Most people come to a Tuesday to help. What usually happens is you end up in a conversation with someone whose life is nothing like yours and more like yours than you expected. Some of those conversations keep going.