HURRICANE IDA UPDATE
Thanks to the many kind partners who are offering their cooperation and support, Cooperation New Orleans is setting up a fund to support our impacted members and local cooperative network. We recognize that we must first be stable ourselves in order to be in a position to offer support to those in our network.
Hurricane Ida hit the state of Louisiana on Sunday August 30, 2021, impacting the lives of many. Members of Cooperation New Orleans and our local cooperative network are among those who either evacuated New Orleans or had to hunker down and are enduring the aftermath. As the City of New Orleans and utility partners continue to work to restore the city to be livable for its residents, this fund will support us as we navigate uncertain circumstances and continue to organize toward our vision of a cooperative economy.
To designate your gift, please select ”Hurricane Ida Relief Fund: Co-OpNOLA” in the Apply my donation to drop down.
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OUR STORY
Since the summer of 2019, a group of cooperators has built Cooperation New Orleans as a movement-building and technical assistance hub for worker-owned cooperatives and building a solidarity economy, With no dedicated resources, we have been organizing with existing cooperatives in New Orleans and our core group has built our capacity by meeting weekly, learning together, and getting trained on key financial and cooperative development skills. All our meetings practice language justice with professional English/Spanish interpretation provided by Bancha Lenguas Language Justice Collective. We have consulted with over a dozen groups at varying stages of cooperative business development, providing technical assistance, training, and education.
All of this groundwork was laid on a zero budget and the steadfast shoulders of our members. We are committed to resourcing our work aligned with our cooperative values. With your support, we will conduct training and education programs in the community connecting cooperativism to its roots in our communities and make our first non-extractive loan through our Loan Fund, as a member of the Seed Commons Financial Collective. Your donation will allow us to work with more groups interested in forming worker-owned cooperative businesses that serve community needs.