President’s Message

President’s Message

 

January 31, 2024
From: Irma F. D. Rogers Board President
To: The MLK-CDC Board & Membership

After 20 years of community service the Martin Luther King – Community Development Corporation is poised to continue collaborating positive alliances throughout the city, Parish and beyond to bring the best in services to this area. The annual programs have been updated to include more services for our citizens. The Business/Entrepreneurship is now in third year. It appears that several other parishes across the state are now adopting the Basic Teaching style initiated with the Summer Basics in 2021 by the MLK – CDC. The organization continues to focus on improving our community through such programs as listed below.

  • Representation for the community at City Council, Parish Commission & MPC meetings, annual clean-ups were also completed with the Green Oaks students & several community volunteers in the spring & fall; MLK – CDC received 2nd place for the 2023 cleanup hosted by Shreveport Green during the Great American Clean up.
  • Assisting our senior citizens with free legal counsel in the areas’ oil and gas leases.
  • Crime statics report are still given monthly to inform the citizenry of our low crime rate for the area’s size and number of people.
  • Enhanced tutoring projects expanded to include a Special Summer Session- Summer Basics for targeted elementary schools with phenomenal staffing and overall success.
  • Summer camps support included the Girls Butterfly camp, Boys Camp and Law& Youth Academy for more than 120 students. Participants were students from several different SPAR facilities, targeting crime preventing with presentations from local leaders.
  • Back to school “Parenting Seminar” is required prior to distributing over 300 backpacks to parents of students in the MLK area.
  • School uniforms are still a primary target for more than 15 years based on grant funds, which covers students attending any Title-1 school in the Parish and homeless program.
  • Fall still brings support for community gatherings on educating citizens – targeting crime prevention and other topics, supporting “Domestic violence” prevention and the “Senior’s Walk for Breast Cancer” prevention.
  • Continuing to offer classes to business entrepreneurs free of charge from the organization.
  • Thanksgiving outreach 2023 included over 200 turkey baskets with 23 cooked dinners going to the elderly and disabled in three various communities within the city.
  • Christmas outreach shopping for the underserved for more than 250 children in need of warm clothing along with several families in need of groceries, and other essentials. . Also, partnering with the Hawg Riders motorcycle club, Shriners Abduhl Temple #94 and Abduhl Court #103 provided toys and gift cards to those students who were listed as homeless and the underserved for Christmas.

Many thanks to all of those who participated in our 20th Anniversary Banquet held last June, it was a phenomenal event. After 20 years of the organization has a renewed vow to continue its exemplary community & outreach services. The public facility  still houses and offers several beneficial programs to our citizenry facing similar challenges for our children and senior citizens alike. I am confident through God’s grace and strength this organization will continue moving forward beyond 2024.

 

 

 

 

Sincerely,

Irma D. Rogers
Board President

MLKCDC – Martin Luther King Community Development