[StBernard] LouisianaRebuilds.info Web Portal Attracts 2.5 Million Visitors in First Week

[Westley Annis]

LouisianaRebuilds.info Web Portal Attracts 2.5 Million Visitors in First
Week

"First Stop on the Way Home" Links Displaced Residents and Businesses to
Services, Information


BATON ROUGE, La. - More than 2.5 million people visited
www.LouisianaRebuilds.info <http://www.LouisianaRebuilds.info>  in its first
week.

Dubbed "your first stop on the way home," the state-of-the art portal links
displaced Louisiana residents, businesses, nonprofits and others to
assistance, services and information. The portal features con! tent and
links to resources both in the state and around the country and is a
one-stop compilation of information related to rebuilding and planning. 

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco introduced www.LouisianaRebuilds.info
<http://www.LouisianaRebuilds.info>  last week as a link to Louisiana's Road
Home housing program registry. As of Friday, 39,399 people had registered
for The Road Home program -- 11,553 on the Internet and 27,846 by calling a
toll-free call center at 888-ROAD 2 LA.

The portal is sponsored by local and national non-profit organizations,
foundations, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Louisiana Family
Recovery Corps. 

"The beauty of the web portal is that it points people to any type of
information they need," PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover B! lackwell told the
LRA Board of Directors Thursday. "LouisianaRebuilds is also a place for them
to share their stories and to speak out about their needs. The portal thus
becomes a virtual supportive community for residents to share on the way
home." 

Blackwell said the partnership is developing offline resources to bring the
same rich portal content to residents who do not have Internet access. 

LRA board members applauded the effort and noted that it is also the perfect
way to connect displaced residents with jobs, which will allow them to
return home.

LouisianaRebuilds.info includes regularly updated information about:

Individual neighborhoods, parish, and statewide rebuilding efforts,
affordable housing, transportation, schools, and health care; Help for
business owners and entrepreneurs; Pending legislation, policy issues, and
voting; and Community resources and funding opportunities for nonprofits.

PolicyLink, the national organ! ization known for its efforts to insure that
the wisdom, voice, and experience of local constituencies are part of
conversations about policies that support economic and social equity, has
guided the development of the portal. 

Living Cities, the national investor collaborative, provided the initial
funding for the portal because of its importance in providing information
crucial to recovery. 

Innovative Intermedia-the Colorado-based interactive media agency owned by
the former lead project manager for the development of the post-9/11 site
LowerManhattan.info-provided consulting and overall design and branding of
the site. The portal was built by New Orleans-based Carrollton Technology
Partners. Day-to-day portal oversight is the responsibility of the One
Economy Corporation. 

# # #


The Louisiana Recovery Authority is the planning and coordinating body that
was created in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and R! ita by Governor
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to plan for the recovery and rebuilding of
Louisiana.

Living Cities is an investor collaborative of 15 major financial
institutions, foundations, and government agencies that have invested more
than $370 million to rejuvenate city neighborhoods throughout the nation.
(AXA Community Investment Program, Bank of America, The Annie E. Casey
Foundation, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, Deutsche Bank, Fannie Mae
Foundation, Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,
The McKnight Foundation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Prudential
Financial, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the United States Department of
Housing & Urban Development). 

PolicyLink is a national research and action organization that works in
partnership with others organizations to advance policies to achieve
economic and social equity.

One Economy Corporation is the national nonprofit organization that us! es
technology to connect low-income people to information and tools that help
them improve their lives.

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