Team Leader: Blair Begnaud Funded Date: November 9, 2024 Amount: $5,000 Location: Lafayette, LA
Progress
(% completed since funding)
%
Project Description
Lafayette’s quality of life studies, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure studies, and community anecdotes, indicate a lack of viable cycling infrastructure, particularly end-of-trip bicycle parking in Lafayette. Lafayette isn’t a fully safe, walkable, or bikeable city yet, but cyclists are still here and are in need of support and we believe that community-driven efforts can make substantial progress toward creating a safe haven for cyclists. Many end-of-trip destinations like schools, parks, grocery stores, and local businesses lack bicycle parking. Installing bicycle parking that doubles as art murals on private and public property at end-of-trip destinations is a step in the right direction to expand bicycle infrastructure, inspire citizens and businesses to embrace cycling, support local artists, and boost overall ridership in Lafayette.
Phase I of this project seeks to utilize 24-Hour Citizen Project funds to purchase and strategically place Bicycle Rack Art Murals at two key locations—northside and downtown—where cyclists are already present, and bicycle parking is in demand. These bicycle racks, shaped like bicycles and capable of holding 2-4 bikes, will be painted by local artists through a community art competition. Designed to be replicated, these Bicycle Rack Art Murals will become community art installations that businesses will want on their properties, similar to the popular Pelicans on Parade project. This colorful initiative encourages local businesses to invest in bicycle parking, show their support as bike-friendly establishments, and add vibrant local art to our community.
Phase II includes a 5-year plan to place 10 Bicycle Rack Art Murals in Lafayette by partnering with local businesses who will sponsor and adopt a Bicycle Rack Art Mural for the front of their business. Through the success of Phase I, we aim to generate public excitement around the bike racks, motivating more businesses to join the movement by sponsoring their own custom-painted racks. Bicycle Rack Art Murals can include it’s sponsors’ logos and feature fun local designs from local artists facilitated through a Community Art Competition. Before a public Community Art Competition, a Call for Artists would go out internally to the Sponsor’s Business employees first to allow creative employees a chance to design a winning design and paint their company’s bike rack. This approach fosters a sense of ownership for the sponsoring business, encouraging the business to take pride in maintaining these painted bike racks and ensuring their long-term care. The Bicycle Rack Art Mural Initiative has the potential to spark broader interest in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Lafayette. Cities that have invested in quality bike and pedestrian infrastructure consistently report improved quality of life, increased happiness, enhanced safety, economic growth, higher property values, and better overall community health. Installing bicycle parking will increase non-motorized access to essential services such as healthcare, education, food, and goods, fostering a healthier, more connected community. The Bicycle Rack Art Mural Initiative is a small-scale community intervention with the potential for a big impact, to transform Lafayette into a more vibrant and colorful bike-friendly community.
Team Leader: Cherie Kelly Funded Date: November 9, 2024 Amount: $4,000 Location: Lafayette, LA
Progress
(% completed since funding)
%
Project Description
This program focuses on establishing pantries in low-income areas to provide essential household goods and hygiene products to the community. Each month, residents receive a voucher that allows them to shop at the pantry, ensuring they have access to necessary items like cleaning supplies, toiletries, and other basic household essentials. The goal is to reduce financial strain, promote hygiene, and support the overall well-being of families in these communities while fostering a sense of dignity and empowerment through a structured, voucher-based system.
We run this program because we understand that many families struggle to obtain even the most basic necessities, which can lead to challenges both at home and in their daily lives. These small but vital items—like household goods and hygiene products—can make a big difference in maintaining stability and dignity. I started this program because I’ve been in this position myself, and I know how hard it can be when help isn’t available. My goal is to meet the needs of others in the way I once needed support, ensuring families have access to the essentials they deserve.
Team Leader: Ashley Hutchins / Grace Gallaspy Funded Date: November 9, 2024 Amount: $2,500 Location: Lafayette, LA
Progress
(% completed since funding)
%
Project Description
The National Alliance on Mental Illness recently reported that 1 in 6 children between the ages of 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year in the United States. The American Psychological Association reports that in the 10 years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 40% increase in depressive symptoms, feelings of hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors among American youth.
The first step in ensuring children have the tools they need to seek assistance for their mental health is setting a standard of open and transparent communication about mental health.
Team Reel Connections is pitching an innovative approach to modeling and facilitating mental health conversations and improving community access to resources with our (e)motion picture family movie event. With this project, we will use a popular family film to engage participants in a dialogue about emotions and provide them the tools needed to replicate these conversations at home. We will treat all our attendees to the red carpet experience to create an atmosphere of fun and excitement.
We will follow the movie screening with brief, facilitated discussion groups led by mental health professionals to model discussion techniques for families to continue sharing and communicating about mental health topics at home. At the conclusion of the event all attendees will get their “VIP swag bag” of local mental health resources and materials designed to help foster healthy communication patterns for families. We believe engaging experiences like (e)motion picture events can serve Acadiana as a vital resource in battling the mental health crisis currently impacting all communities in the US and can improve social determinants of health in our region.
We look forward to collaborating with community partners, qualified mental health professionals and the families in Acadiana to shine a spotlight on mental health.
Team Leader: Jenny Thompson Funded Date: November 9, 2024 Amount: $3,000 Location: Lafayette, LA
Progress
(% completed since funding)
%
Project Description
Project “Doula Right Thing” focuses on addressing the rising maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in the Lafayette region. As a professional doula with over 15 years of experience, Jenny and her team recognize the essential role that doulas play in providing physical, informational, and emotional support to birthing families. Doulas have been proven to improve birth outcomes for mothers and babies, especially for vulnerable populations, such as Black women, who are at a higher risk for adverse outcomes during childbirth.
One of the primary challenges facing families is the cost of accessing doula services, which often makes this support inaccessible to many in need. The project seeks to address this barrier by training 24 doulas within the region. By offering free training to doulas, the initiative aims to create teams of certified doulas who will provide birth services at no cost to mothers in need. This not only improves birth outcomes for these mothers but also empowers doulas to start their own businesses, creating a self-sustaining solution to the maternal health crisis.
The project’s goal is to train 24 doulas, which, when organized into teams of three and supporting minimum two births each year, could provide services to ~50 mothers annually, potentially serving up to ~150 mothers or more over time. Achieving this scale of support would significantly impact maternal health outcomes in the community, ensuring that more women have access to the care they need during childbirth.
In terms of impact, doulas help decrease maternal and infant mortality and morbidity rates, particularly for Black women, by reducing the occurrence of low birth weight and complications. Additionally, doulas reduce the rate of c-sections from 25% to 13%, and when mothers are induced, they help lower the chance of a c-section from 59% to 13%. They also play a crucial role in increasing breastfeeding initiation, which improves bonding and helps regulate the baby’s heart rate, breathing rate, and blood sugar. Overall, the project aims to create a healthier, more supportive birth environment for mothers and their babies, while empowering doulas to make a lasting difference in their communities.
The 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette (BMOGL) is a mentoring organization charter in 2009. The mission of the 100 BMOGL is to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve. As stated, mentoring is at the core service of the organization as we work to influence and transform the lives of underrepresented and disenfranchised youths, with a focus on African American youths. The programs of the 100 BMOGL are based upon our National Campaign “Four for the Future”: Mentoring, Education, Health and Wellness, and Economic Empowerment. It is within those areas of work, the 100 BMOGL decided to launch an initiative to improve literacy within the community called- Barbers, Boys and Books- Barbershop Mini Library.
Reading is paramount to the educational success of our kids. For students experiencing poverty, reading levels are stunningly low. Study shows that theirs a correlation between reading level and income. Higher income is linked to higher literacy. We aim to increase the literacy rate by placing a mini library in barbershops throughout the north side of Lafayette. The libraries will include age-appropriate books for elementary and middle school-age kids. A crafty design holder for the books will be built to place in the barbershop/beauty salons. Barbershops and beauty salons have been special places for the Black Community for years. It’s more than just a business for entrepreneurs. It’s a place to meet and discuss community issues, family matters, and so much more. Young and old visit barbershops which usually extend well over an hour per appointment. The expanded time allotment provides ample opportunity for kids to grab a book and read.
The additional exposure to reading will increase literacy rate and optimistically improve socioeconomic status over time. Therefore, improving their quality of life through a good education.
Project Details
Team Leader: Alton Trahan Funded Date: November 11, 2023 Amount: $3,750 Location: Lafayette, LA
Dear Community, Thank you for your support of the 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette newest program; Barbers Boys, and Books: Staying Sharp for Literacy. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the 24hr Citizen Project for providing us the opportunity to...
