In the months that followed Larry started to work with newcomers from non-profits and universities to help improve access to care for his community. The newcomers were people he whom had never known or seen in Central City, an African American community that even prior to the disaster faced progressive decay, blighted houses, failing schools, and limited employment options. Residents of Central City had struggled to have their voices heard among policymakers and elected officials, and after the levee failures that struggle was all the more acute. With time, Larry and some of the newcomers – some from New Orleans, and some from far away - became trusted partners in their efforts to create a community voice for health, working in collaboration with non-profits, private partners, researchers, and others. In 2006, they chose a name for their health partnership - REACH NOLA. REACH NOLA’s concept was simple: to foster equitable partnerships among community members, non-profits, academics, government, and businesses, that create new avenues to improve the community’s health and access to quality healthcare in post-Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana: literally to REACH NOLA. REACH NOLA teamed up in late 2007 with participatory media leaders Caricia Catalani and Anthony Veneziale of the VideoVoice Collective and Back House Productions to form a powerful new partnership applying videovoice -- a filmmaking-advocacy-research method that Dr. Catalani pioneered while studying at UC Berkeley. The new partnership combines cutting edge research and innovative community filmmaking techniques with the renewed spirit of collaboration in New Orleans, giving everyday people a powerful opportunity to reveal what is happening, or not happening, in their communities. Team members put digital video cameras in the hands of those who know their communities best, assisting them in communicating their histories, current realities, and solutions for a better future.

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In the months that followed Larry started to work with newcomers from non-profits and universities to help improve access to care for his community. The newcomers were people he whom had never known or seen in Central City, an African American community that even prior to the disaster faced progressive decay, blighted houses, failing schools, and limited employment options. Residents of Central City had struggled to have their voices heard among policymakers and elected officials, and after the levee failures that struggle was all the more acute. With time, Larry and some of the newcomers – some from New Orleans, and some from far away - became trusted partners in their efforts to create a community voice for health, working in collaboration with non-profits, private partners, researchers, and others. In 2006, they chose a name for their health partnership - REACH NOLA.

REACH NOLA’s concept was simple: to foster equitable partnerships among community members, non-profits, academics, government, and businesses, that create new avenues to improve the community’s health and access to quality healthcare in post-Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana: literally to REACH NOLA.

REACH NOLA teamed up in late 2007 with participatory media leaders Caricia Catalani and Anthony Veneziale of the VideoVoice Collective and Back House Productions to form a powerful new partnership applying videovoice -- a filmmaking-advocacy-research method that Dr. Catalani pioneered while studying at UC Berkeley. The new partnership combines cutting edge research and innovative community filmmaking techniques with the renewed spirit of collaboration in New Orleans, giving everyday people a powerful opportunity to reveal what is happening, or not happening, in their communities. Team members put digital video cameras in the hands of those who know their communities best, assisting them in communicating their histories, current realities, and solutions for a better future.

In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina and subsequent levee failures left a wake of destruction in New Orleans, community leader and minister Larry Campbell struggled to find health care options for the people living in his battered Central City neighborhood. Larry and four volunteers cobbled together a mini-clinic in the corner of his church, and for months they provided the only health care that hundreds of his neighbors were able to access. Larry had no experience providing health care, but he knew that someone had to: though hospitals and clinics were closed, elected officials’ attentions were focused on many other pressing issues, and not access to healthcare. Larry’s story, like many other heroic stories addressing survivors’ needs in New Orleans after the 2005 levee failures, was never publicly heard.

Videovoice is therapeutic and empowering. By sharing their stories with each other, New Orleanians from all walks of life have an opportunity to talk about the issues that impact their lives most. Lifelong friendships are formed. As participants produce their own documentary films, their stories turn into powerful tools for advocacy, communicating much more than what could be said by a checked box.

It has been more than three years since the levees failed. Mental health problems have doubled in New Orleans and suicide rates have skyrocketed. Those who have returned from displacement continue to face not only the pain of lost family and friends, but the loss of housing, closures of primary sources of health care (like Charity Hospital), and the ongoing stress of piecing one's life and community back together. Many people still struggle to find fresh food, to find an open school to send their children, decent and affordable housing, and a living wage.

New Orleans today faces a human rights crisis. Marginalized communities are continually denied equitable opportunities for housing, education, work, and health. Please join us in our new approach to supporting emerging community voices and change.

What does New Orleans VideoVoices do?

1. Build community capacity for advocacy, research, & media:

•Train community partners in video production, editing, & distribution.
•Build community editing suites.
•Donate cameras, tripods, microphones and editing software.

2. Engage in action to improve community health:

•Screen documentary films locally at community action sessions.
•Share videos through strategic online dissemination.
•Provide powerful video tools for policy advocacy.

3. Community-based participatory research using video methods:

•Research community strengths & challenges through a rich qualitative approach.
•Develop research techniques & tools in a culturally & contextually sensitivity manner.

new orleans videovoices