Not long ago, the Black Eyed Peas released a song titled, Where is the Love? The chorus goes, “Father, Father, Father help us, Send some guidance from above, ‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’ Where is the love?” On October 12, 2011, the people of New Orleans emphatically answered that question with compassion.
The New Orleans Mission, along with HERO|farm, launched “make a move,” the largest public assistance event for New Orleans homeless in the city’s history on Wednesday, October 12, 2011. We were absolutely thrilled with the event’s success, but we were even prouder of the goodwill and collaboration shown by all the organizations and groups. The service providers came from all across the region with different religious backgrounds, races and philosophies, yet we all had one amazing mission that day: To create a better quality of life for those in our city who desperately needed it.
The program was about the community getting together and offering a broad range of services, including medical checkups, foot care, legal services, grooming and employment assistance for struggling individuals.
The homeless is not necessarily the people you see under bridges or have raggedy clothes. It could be a friend or a neighbor that’s just struggling. This event was not just about helping the homeless, but people that just needed a hand up.
The goal of make a move was to help homeless and struggling individuals by providing the resources they needed to jump-start their lives and to allow them to walk out the Convention Center with a new sense of hope and their heads held high.
We had great support from service providers and volunteers. They connected one on one with every attendee and so, we felt like we were all able to do a lot of good in a short amount of time.
A FEW QUICK FACTS FROM make a move 2011
51 Service Providers donated their services, programs and expertise.
474 Volunteers and Service Providers gave their time and talent. Some came all the way from Minnesota!
1,209 Attendees came to receive services and connect with others.
15 Dogs were helped by the make a move veterinarian.
4,966 Hours combined over the last year among volunteers, service providers and organizers to make a move for the homeless.
1 Life saved when the medical checkup sent one attendee to the hospital after finding his blood pressure to be dangerously high.
Currently, we are exploring the possibility of having make a move 2012, which would probably be around the same time as this year. Check back with us to stay updated.