By Sara McLeod Judson

Our Community Foundation connects people who care with causes that matter.  One definition of connecting is joining or linking things together, especially to provide access and communication. Reading that a few times made me even more confident that our work of connecting brings value to Southwest Louisiana.

One such connection is with the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (NPS-RTCA). This week, an NPS-RTCA team is in our region sharing recommendations on several quality-of-life enhancement projects that include access to our natural resources in Calcasieu, Cameron and Beauregard Parishes.  Our Community Foundation is pleased to be their connector helping us maximize our area’s natural resources.

Several years ago, “pre-storms” as I often refer to our timeline now, I visited with one of our annual members and fund holders, Mike Nodier.  Mike shared his vision for creating a 23-mile water loop around the City of Lake Charles which he ultimately dubbed “Bayou Greenbelt.”  When Mike shared his idea with our Community Foundation Board, we were eager to help him make it a reality.

In Mike’s own words, “When I first attempted to make Bayou Greenbelt into a project, I didn’t know what to do.  I had access to local government and civic organizations.  I was able to make presentations that were warmly received, but I didn’t get any real traction.  When the Community Foundation got involved, I got a team.  And I got a team that knew what to do.  We quickly leveraged the talent and energy within their Board, annual membership and their experience working with government at every level, with civic organizations and with our Foundation’s partner, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.”

Connecting continued with two then Board members, Lee Boyer and Jon Manns, who jumped in as lead Bayou Greenbelt advocates. Lee discovered that the NPS-RTCA offers consulting services to communities with promising ideas.  Bayou Greenbelt made their queue in the “pre-storm” period.  A silver lining of the “post-storm” period is that our local FEMA leader saw the potential of Bayou Greenbelt, quickly got the green light from the Department of Interior, and the Community Foundation became the local partner with the NPS-RTCA for research on making Bayou Greenbelt a reality!    

Fortunately, our ability to connect didn’t stop there. This team readily agreed to share their expertise with our region on a few additional projects. They spent over two years doing site visits and engaging with citizens, local government staff, and elected officials across the region.  This week, they are here in person providing recommendations to nature-based recreation in Cameron, a master plan for West Park in DeRidder, ideas for enhancing local food options in North Lake Charles, in addition to recommendations for Bayou Greenbelt.

Your Community Foundation exists to connect people who care with access to resources that can make dreamers’ projects come alive. You can be a connector by volunteering on one of these projects, making an annual donation as a member of the Community Foundation, or learning more about having your own charitable fund where you can support the causes that matter most to you.  You can be connected to our Community Foundation by signing up for the e-newsletter at www.foundationswla.org and following us on social media. You will then be a link that joins people with access to resources, making a positive and lasting impact in Southwest Louisiana. See you on the Bayou!

•

Sara McLeod Judson is the CEO of the Community Foundation SWLA. She can be reached at 337-491-6688 or sjudson@foundationswla.org. For more information, visit www.foundationswla.org.