A Message from Our President & CEO

YOUR HELP MAKES THE DIFFERENCE FOR MANY

For over 127 years, Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana has fulfilled the mission and changed the lives of the people we serve because of the generous support we receive from the community. Thank You .

Last year, our dedicated staff helped over 28,000 people in southeast Louisiana. Through our four Behavioral Health Services programs, more than 1,500 men and women gained the confidence to tackle the challenges they face each day. Our Adoption and Maternity program provided essential medical care and counseling services to over 40 women facing an unplanned pregnancy, enabling them to carry their babies to term. And 238 children in the Mentoring Children of Promise program were paired with a caring volunteer adult mentor. None of this would have been possible without your generous support.

How do we continue to maximize your support?

The first way is by maximizing government grants, which remain our primary source of funding. Despite efforts to expand governmental support for our programs. There always remains a substantial difference between what grants cover and the actually costs of serving the most vulnerable. This is what we call our funding gap. However, it is you, our donors, who bridge this gap. With your help, you ensure we have no disruptions in service for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, veterans in crisis, adoptive families, at-risk youth, children with incarcerated parents, and countless others.

The second way that we maximize your support is by developing new programs and forging innovative partnerships to address growing needs in the community. Last fall I announced the creation of the Family-Focused Recovery program. This groundbreaking initiative enables mothers to stay with their children while receiving substance use disorder treatment. Once fully implemented, it will provide a two-generation solution for substance use disorder recovery and family preservation, benefiting both expectant mothers and mothers who already have children. 

The third way that we maximize your support is by echoing your concerns to lawmakers. With your invaluable help, state funding for community services for individuals with disabilities became a priority. Your unwavering support made it clear that beneficial legislation on this matter was important and helped ensure the future of our intellectual and development disability services.

I am blessed to have highly skilled and committed staff here at Volunteers of America. They can accomplish so much with your generous contributions. Our team of 450 +employees remain the “heart and soul” of our mission because of their passion for serving others. As an organization, we continue to embody our founders’ motto: “We will go wherever we are needed and do whatever comes to hand.”

I hope you are as inspired as I am about the work being accomplished here in southeast Louisiana by Volunteers of America. If you are interested in learning more about the available volunteer opportunities or you would like to make a gift to ensure that we continue to positively impact the communities we serve, I encourage you to visit www.voasela.org/give. Your support, no matter how big or small, can make the difference to the lives we serve.

Voris R. Vigee