Immaculate Conception Social Outreaches

Saint Vincent de Paul Society

The Immaculate Conception conference of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society provides individuals and families with either rent or utility assistance. Volunteers conduct telephone intake interviews at the parish offices downtown and schedule home visits to those who ask for assistance. At Thanksgiving Saint Vincent de Paul members also assemble and distribute food baskets to those in need. Currently there are eleven volunteers who focus primarily on residents of Central City and the Lower Garden District. Additional volunteers and material assitance are always welcome.

The Harry Tompson Center

The Harry Tompson Center is part of The Rebuild Center, a collaborative outreach to homeless men and women in the downtown area sponsored by the Jesuits, the Vincentians, the Presentation Sisters, and Catholic Charities Hispanic Apostolate. Located behind St. Joseph Church, the Tompson Center offers the homeless a place to take a shower, wash clothes, obtain toiletries, use the restroom, and make phone calls. In additon to providing these services, the Center also coordinates the provision of legal aid and medical care by volunteer licensed practitioneers. Finally, the Rebuild Center itself is designed as an oasis of greenery and beauty in an otherwise bleak landscape, a place where those who are often forgotten can find comfort and refuge. Visit their website.

The Good Shepherd Nativity School

Opened in 2001 as part of the vision of the late Fr. Harry Tompson, S.J., Good Shepherd Nativity School provides an excellent, tuition-free education in a safe and nurturing environment to at-risk children whose families live below the poverty line. This exceptional year-round academic program empowers these children by providing them and their families with the tools to break away from the cycle of poverty in which they find themselves. Visit their website.

Reconcile New Orleans/Café Reconcile

Reconcile New Orleans, an integral part of this community's revitalization and recovery, is a nonprofit organization providing at-risk youth with opportunities to learn life, interpersonal, and work skills for success. Since the program's launch in 2000, Reconcile has graduated nearly 400 youth between the ages of 16 and 22. The culinary training project utilizes a nonprofit restaurant, Café Reconcile, as a training, mentoring, and independent skill-buliding site to provide support, experience, and ability enhancement in the hospitality industry. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Reconcile implemented a construction program utilizing the same hands-on mentoring model to train youth while at the same time building affordable housing units in the community. With the late Fr. Harry Tompson, SJ, co-founders Tim Falcon and Craig Cuccia believe that all people are called to be part of the solution by encouraging self-sufficiency and providing viable opportunities for those who might otherwise find themselves on inhumane and destructive paths. Visit their website.

You can volunteer for these projects online.