Vision for New Orleans Recreation

August 28, 2009

It is very fitting that on the day before we remember the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina a diverse group of business, community, and neighborhood leaders joined to present to the New Orleans City Council a grand vision for the New Orleans Recreation Department that gives our children and youth the high quality recreation opportunities they deserve.

The report presented to the Council this morning began with a Best Practice study on municipal recreation departments commissioned in July 2008 by the Afterschool Partnership. For over a year, nearly forty New Orleanians, led by businessmen Rod West, Roy Glapion, and Bobby Garon, have met to reflect on the report and craft a vision that encompasses the governance and funding models that make youth recreation programs both high quality and sustainable.

Please take a few minutes to review the report. To take this report from a vision to a reality will require strong support from all sectors of our community. We hope that you will commit to doing whatever it takes to give our children the best. They deserve nothing less.