25 leaders selected to receive training in the field of development Baton Rouge, Louisiana – The Baton Rouge Area Foundation today announced the 2024 cohort of Development Fellows, a program of the Foundation’s Center for Nonprofit Excellence. One of the Foundation’s signature programs, Development Fellows is a workshop series that teaches fundraising fundamentals to enhance […]
In Livingston Parish, Chantelle Varnado, with a hand from her family, cares for 400 kids with special needs By Amy Alexander | Tim Mueller photos Chantelle Varnado has a passion for helping kids express themselves. Her doctoral studies at LSU involved learning everything she could about rib cages. Help the kids to breathe better, she […]
Two synagogues forge a bolder future for Judaism in Baton Rouge By Gary Perilloux Generations of Jewish families practiced their faith consistently in Baton Rouge, but they did so in synagogues separated by five miles: B’nai Israel on Kleinert Avenue and Beth Shalom on Jefferson Highway. That separation changed in 2022. Today, the congregations are […]
Currents Q3 2022
Sara Bongiorni Leaders of a project to create an urban trail are, from left front row, Jenni Peters and Adrian Owen-Jones with, from left back row, Misti Broussard, Brumby Broussard, Al Moreau, Chad Hughes, Carl Stages and Julie Becnel. A handful of scrappy business owners are leading the push to build a safe and beautiful […]
By Amy Alexander It’s the kind of March day you’d like to bottle and pop open on a stifling July afternoon–seventy-odd degrees, piercing blue skies, just the right amount of snap in the air. Eric Romero and I have the best seat at Parrain’s Seafood Restaurant, out on the broad, breezy porch, amid the flinty […]
By Mary Ann Sternberg Cottonwood Books existed for over 40 years and several iterations in the shadow of the Perkins Road overpass. But, since 1986, that name emblazoned in white on a royal blue awning has been synonymous with a single person: proprietor (and often sole employee) Daniel Robert Plaisance, known to everyone as “Danny.” […]
Currents Q2 2022
By Gary Perilloux At the riverfront headquarters of the Water Institute, Justin Ehrenwerth discusses the future of water. He’s surrounded by it. Behind him, a workboat struggles up the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, while thousands of cars travel over the Mississippi River Bridge. The mission of The Institute, which Ehrenwerth leads, isn’t limited to […]
By Sara Bongiorni A network of paved trails, bike lanes and quiet streets with wayfinding signs will reach from Pecue Lane through downtown to Scotlandville by mid-decade. BREC is taking the lead on multi-agency work to complete or begin construction on nearly 20 miles of greenways over the next three to five years. The network […]
By Sara Bongiorni The Gardere Initiative runs summer and holiday camps and an after-school program from a homey Ned Avenue fourplex that serves as the neighborhood’s de facto community center. Murrelle Harrison makes sure the neighborhood kids learn and enjoy their lives. | Tim Mueller photo The grassroots organization has made an outsize impact in […]