Umbrella

A partnership created to bring multiple green infrastructure options to neighborhoods in a comprehensive and accessible way.

Umbrella is a partnership between residents, the City of New Orleans, and nonprofit partners to reduce the effects of climate change like flooding and the heat island effect. Partners include a green jobs training program, faith-based leaders and local community members to address stormwater and flooding issues. Services include:


Paving removal | Urban Conservancy’s Front Yard Initiative

Rain barrels | Green Light New Orleans

Tree planting | SOUL

Workforce and small business development | Launch NOLA


Umbrella is in partnership with the City of New Orleans and funded by the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network. 


Update 7

Jun 2022

Umbrella-installed rain garden next to Stronger Hope Baptist Church in the Hoffman Triangle built to reduce localized flooding.
This thriving green infrastructure project installed by the Umbrella coalition one year ago next to Stronger Hope Baptist Church in the Hoffman Triangle is capable of holding up to 20,000 gallons of water once fully grown in.

The Urban Conservancy and their partners in the Umbrella NOLA project were featured in Grist recently. The Hoffman Triangle in Central City is one of many New Orleans neighborhoods that experiences regular localized flooding. Umbrella, a coalition of green-sector nonprofits that includes the Urban Conservancy, ThriveNOLA, Green Light New Orleans, and SOUL NOLA, works to alleviate these localized flooding issues with residential interventions, in partnership with residents and faith leaders.

“You can do two things at once. You can create space for water to go, and, if you’re thoughtful about it, you can create space within society for people who are being shut out economically.”

-Dana Eness, Executive Director of the Urban Conservancy

Read the full article here.

Update 6

Jun 2021

Via Biz New Orleans, article by Rich Collins.

Thumbnail Img 3034Photo credit: Thrive Works Green

NEW ORLEANS – Jerusalem Baptist Church and Stronger Hope Baptist Church, both located in New Orleans’ Hoffman Triangle neighborhood, have completed the installation of permeable paving and green spaces designed to reduce flooding during heavy rain events.

Work on the Jerusalem project was completed by Thrive Works Green, a nonprofit workforce training program.

“Our program is truly one of a kind,” said Chuck Morse, Thrive executive director, in a press release. “We use a holistic approach, walking alongside our trainees before, during and after the program to ensure their needs are met, whether it’s with a weekly stipend, soft skills, mental health support, etc. After they graduate, we connect them directly with contract opportunities.”

Read more of this story here.

Update 5

Jul 2020

UC and Launch NOLA staff members oversee a green front yard project

Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN) recently published an article featuring the Urban Conservancy and the Front Yard Initiative titled “A Green Lining to New Orleans Storm Clouds: How a new nonprofit coalition is teaching neighbors how they can create solutions for flooding in their community“.

In the article, Daria Uporsky of SSDN discusses the cooperation between the New Orleans Office of Resilience & Sustainability and Umbrella. Umbrella is a coalition of nonprofit partners including the Front Yard Initiative, Green Light New Orleans, SOUL, and Launch NOLA.

“By testing strategies in Hoffman Triangle”, Uporsky notes, “they hope that their new models can be scaled to other neighborhoods, and ultimately contribute to increased resilience across the city.”

>>Read more about Umbrella here!

 

 

Update 4

Dec 2019

Urban Conservancy Executive Director, Dana Eness, provides comment to The Advocate regarding roadway infrastructure in New Orleans and transition towards municipal water management:

Dana Eness on New Orleans Infrastructure Needs

  • New Orleans claims 1,450 square feet of road surface per person; the highest ratio of pavement per person in the country.
  • The majority of our transportation infrastructure was built in the 1960’s with population projections of 1 million residents. The city currently has less than 400,00 people. We are taxing ourselves to maintain an over-sized street system. 
  • Reducing the sizes of roadways provides space for municipal water management installations and multi-modal transportation opportunities.

Update 3

Nov 2019

Last month, Leo “Coach” Young, long-time Hoffman Triangle resident became the go-to guy on his block for questions about how to manage stormwater after having Mastodonte install French drains on his property! Check out the WWL TV video here of Coach speaking about the work being done on his property and the importance of stormwater management in his neighborhood, a neighborhood that has been extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, all possible due to the SSDN grant that makes our work in the Hoffman Triangle possible.

Check out more FYI features on WWL TV and WWL First News here!

Update 2

Sep 2019

SSCF Outreach Report |  “Between January and April 2019, WATER BLOCK, LLC worked with project partners, residents, local nonprofits and faith based organizations to collect qualitative and quantitative information about Hoffman Triangle, and the flooding concerns in the area.” This report is a comprehensive analysis of the data collected by the canvassing done with one of our partners, WATER BLOCK, to help us understand the concerns of residents of the Hoffman Triangle, both environmental and social.

Update 1

Mar 2019

We’re pleased to announce the Urban Conservancy +  partners SOUL, Green Light New Orleans, and Launch NOLA have received funding to work in the Hoffman Triangle for the next two years from the Southeastern Sustainability Directors Network.

“USING FRONT YARDS TO ADDRESS FLOODING”
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

“Investment: $298,800
Project Partners: City of New Orleans, Urban Conservancy, Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL); Launch NOLA Green; Green Light New Orleans
Project Summary: New Orleans partners will prioritize green infrastructure projects in the Hoffman Triangle, one of the neighborhoods most vulnerable to repetitive flood loss, and also increase capacity of local community members to identify opportunities for green infrastructure in their neighborhoods. Connecting a green jobs training program, faith-based leaders and local community members, the project will use innovative tools to address stormwater and flooding issues, while at the same time scaling up highly effective green infrastructure retrofit techniques.”

Read the full press release.

Umbrella is a group of different green infrastructure partners working together! Sign up for our programs below.


Paving Removal Application | Urban Conservancy’s Front Yard Initiative

Rain Barrel Application | Green Light New Orleans

Tree Planting Application | SOUL 

Small business + workforce development application | Launch NOLA 

 

Umbrella Project Photos – Hoffman Triangle