In 2001, Greta Gladney founded The Renaissance Project, a 501(c)(3) organization, for the purpose of improving the quality of life in her neighborhood, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. To this end, our mission is to support and promote economic development, food access, public education, and arts and cultural programming through advocacy, initiatives, and partnerships. Post-Katrina, we have expanded our target area and partnerships to include the Upper Ninth Ward the Seventh and Eighth Wards, and Central City.

Economic Development

 

St. Claude Avenue Merchants Association

Pre-Katrina, we worked with business owners along the St. Claude Avenue corridor through the Merchants Association. That work culminated in Renaissance drafting the proposal for a Main Street designation on St. Claude Ave.

 

St. Claude Avenue Main Street

Post-Katrina, The Renaissance Project, in partnership with St. Claude Avenue Merchants Association, Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association and Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association, applied to the Louisiana Main Street program for the St. Claude Avenue Main Street designation. St. Claude Ave Main Street includes the nine-block stretch of St. Claude Ave. between Elysian Fields Ave. and Press St.

 

St. Roch Market

We have facilitated planning meetings with the Faubourg St. Roch community for the restoration and reopening of the historic St. Roch market, centrally located within the Main Street designated corridor of St. Claude Ave.

 

Food Access

 

Downtown Neighborhood Market Consortium

Pre-Katrina, Renaissance partnered with St. Claude Avenue Merchants Association and Crescent City Peace Alliance to form the Downtown Neighborhood Market Consortium to develop farmers markets along St. Claude Avenue to support food access and economic development on the avenue and in the adjacent and surrounding neighborhoods.

 

Post-Katrina we received startup funding for our first market, the Lower Ninth Ward Farmers Market. We currently operate a Saturday market in the courtyard at Frederick Douglass High School and started the monthly O.C. Haley Fresh Market in partnership with O.C. Haley Main Street in Central City. We started the monthly Bayou Road Fresh Market in the Seventh Ward as well.

 

Urban Growers Association

We are working to develop locally grown produce for farmers markets starting with the Dunson Memorial Garden in the Lower 9^th ward. Last year we hosted our first annual gardening convening, Regrowing Communities: People Nurture Plants Nurture People in New Orleans in October. Participants came from all over the U.S.

Education

 

Students at the Center (SAC)

We provide administrative support to the creative writing and digital media program operating in Eleanor McMain and McDonogh 35 High Schools.

 

Frederick Douglass Community Coalition

We have brought resources to the school-community since 2002 and would like to build a Frederick Douglass Senior High School Culinary Arts program, restore the 1600-seat auditorium, and open a media center.  

 

Arts and Cultural Programming

 

We produce a fourth Friday performance festival called Fridays on the Roch in the St. Roch neutral ground. Fridays showcases live musical and theater performances free to the public.