In the third week of August 2023, OneRouge hosted two in-person coalition-building meetings at the EBR River Ceneter Library, continuing the development of collaboration and knowledge-sharing between organizations across government, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors.
Education to Career Coalition Meeting
On Tuesday, August 15, OneRouge greeted 25 participants eager to get working on the Education to Career (E2C) Coalition.
Casey Phillips and Tonnisha Ellis hosted the conversation around continuing to define the goals around "expand awareness and access to early childhood education" Then looking at all of the goals that had been previously defined:
Create a culture that values literacy and increases literacy rates.
Increase equitable access to safe learning spaces that encourage a joy for learning at any level
Within that framework, we looked in a 45-day window. In September, we will define metrics and discuss the goal of "increase opportunities for continuous learning."
Capital Area Food Equity (CAFÉ) Coalition Meeting
On Wednesday, August 16, CAFÉ convened a conversation around existing activity and how to propel the work already happening to reduce food insecurity. Using the goals as a thematic focus, this activity helped illuminate important work that is active in the Greater Baton Rouge Area.
Using "Greater access to benefits and programs," Monica Brown from DCFS discussed working on developing an easier method for SNAP applications. Mike Manning from EBR Food Bank discussed their distributions growing to more rural areas to help support access there.
By acknowledging the goal of "Better Collaboration between coalition partners" Dean Donald Andrews from Southern University discussed a shared student activity with DCFS around assessing system-to-system communication.
With "Teach to Grow" BREADA and Baton Roots look to build a start-up farmers document to help new farmers navigate the growing pains of launching a brand new farm.
Transportation & Mobility (T&M) Coalition Meeting
On August 17, the Transportation & Social Mobility (T&M) Coalition met to define work around the goals established:
Community assets are consistently mapped and aligned to increase mobility.
Barriers to mobility are regularly considered and addressed timely.
Planning and funding structures impacting community mobility work in coordination with one another to increase overall mobility for all.
Emerging and proven practices in mobility appropriate for BatonRouge are embraced and executed.
Discussed during this meeting was who is already doing this work, what is being captured, and how can we bring more people to the table to elevate the work being done.
If you would like to join either coalition, please click here to register.
OneRouge and its coalitions were made possible through the support of: City of Baton Rouge, Capital Area United Way, Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, Baton Rouge Alliance for Students, American Heart Association, Joe Burrow Foundation, and BlueCross BlueShield Foundation of Louisiana.