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Caddo Parish Commission hosts NGO showcase highlighting workforce, early-childhood and homelessness programs
Summary
Nonprofits funded by the Caddo Parish Commission described outcomes from workforce apprenticeships, homeless-service stabilizations and early-childhood scholarship programs. Commissioners emphasized cross-organizational coordination and urged volunteers and donations to sustain services.
The Caddo Parish Commission on Tuesday convened an NGO showcase in which more than a dozen local nonprofits described services supported in part by commission grants and public-private matching funds.
Victor Thomas, chair of appropriations and vice president of the Caddo Parish Commission, opened the second session and framed the event as public reporting on the impact of commission funding. Presentations ranged from an apprenticeship program for opportunity youth to shelter capacity for families and specialized outreach for people living unsheltered.
Stephanie Graham, director of grants and sponsored programs at Southern University at Shreveport, said the university’s apprenticeship program served 39 participants — exceeding an original target of 30 — and listed multiple credentials earned by participants, including high-school diplomas, NCCER construction certificates, CPR/First Aid and OSHA 10. “Because of that effort, we successfully served 39 students,” Graham said, adding that many participants have enrolled in postsecondary programs while working.
Speakers from homelessness organizations described both the scale of need and how coordinated funding kept services running. Sharpel Welch of Providence House said the shelter serves about 400–450 families a year, operates with a capacity for roughly 25 families (about 80 people) and maintains a waiting list. A representative of Hope Connections said the agency operates a 37‑bed Safe Haven for people who are excluded from traditional shelters because of substance use, mental-health challenges or criminal histories and credited commission and private donations with preventing a shutdown.
The Community Foundation of Northwest Louisiana reported major gains in early-childhood supports after a commission contribution. Christy Gustoson said the foundation has leveraged roughly $29 million since 2021 to provide more than 1,000 early‑childhood scholarships and opened new classrooms, and she cited improved kindergarten readiness and early math and reading benchmarks for scholarship recipients.
Other presenters described neighborhood-based Friendship Houses, a 55,000-square-foot Harbor community resource center that offers walk-in services and partner agencies, arts programming that reaches thousands of students through the Artbreak festival, and Biz Camp — a two-week entrepreneurship program that teaches middle- and high-school students to write business plans and run pop-up markets.
Commissioners praised cross‑agency coordination and encouraged residents to volunteer or donate. The commission also noted that several local programs relied on American Rescue Plan investments and state-matching grants to sustain operations and emphasized that continued local support helps draw additional external funding. The commission closed by announcing the next NGO showcase session on June 2.
The session concluded without formal votes; presenters encouraged the public to contact their organizations for volunteering and donations.
