Share Space,

Create Synergy.

Build Spaces,

Shift Worlds.

Who Needs Palesa CDC?

New Orleans, Louisiana: A Case Study in Urban Infrastructure Revitalization.

Because of the sweat equity and grassroots effort of community Members and residents, New Orleans is ready for large-scale development. CDCs (Community Development Corporations) ensure that community members’ needs are met with new development,

ahead of the needs of big business, political leverage, and corporate special interests.

Child poverty gap by race:

In Orleans Parish, 43% of Black children live in poverty, compared to just 4% of White children.

  • Affordable housing gap: New Orleans needs roughly 44,000 more affordable rental units, yet only 239 new units were added in the past year.

Poverty & Housing Challenges

  • High poverty in Metro New Orleans: The poverty rate there is 20%, markedly higher than the national average of 12%.

  • Persistent poverty disparities: In New Orleans city, poverty decreased from 28% in 1999 to 23% in 2023, yet rates remain elevated, especially among children and Black residents.

Community Starts At Home.

Health & Structural Deprivation

  • Health disparities: Louisiana ranks 49th in health nationwide. New Orleans performs even worse, especially in premature deaths, low birthweights, and childhood poverty metrics.

  • Substandard housing risks: Poor housing contributes to respiratory illnesses, mental health issues, and chronic disease—particularly in low-income, climate-vulnerable areas.

The Case for Community Development Corporations:

CDCs play a vital role in addressing these gaps:

  • Affordable housing development: They transform crisis into opportunity by building and preserving affordable homes—counteracting alarming needs and slow progress.

  • Holistic community impact: CDCs don't just build homes—they anchor health, social services, and stability—improving health outcomes and enabling economic mobility.

  • Localized solutions: With their embedded understanding of community needs and access to public-private funding streams, CDCs effectively combat concentrated poverty that influences entire neighborhoods. ..

As we rebuild the very communities whose residents once sacrificed for change, the question is: who decides who benefits—local heroes, or outside interests seeking profit? These realities highlight why Palesa is essential to revitalizing neighborhoods, reducing disparities, and ensuring equitable progress in New Orleans and Louisiana.

“Housing justice must be community-led—grounded in our own resilience, rooted in our own streets.”
— Inspired by Malik Rahim

Policy Reform.

At Palesa, we believe shared spaces spark growth. We create environments where self-discovery meets collaboration, bringing together industry, academia, government, nonprofits, and communities to tackle challenges, drive innovation, and fuel economic opportunity.

Through Palesa CDC, our charitable arm, we embrace Policy Link’s vision of creative economies—cultivating entrepreneurship, wellness, cultural expression, and business development in New Orleans East and across Southwestern Louisiana. Here, supportive programming empowers creatives, strengthens community, and lays the foundation for lasting regional growth.

How Open is New Orleans for Business?

New Orleans is primed for growth, with small businesses driving much of the city’s economy. From cultural industries and tourism to construction, healthcare, and emerging technology, the region offers fertile ground for entrepreneurs.

With its rich talent pool, expanding infrastructure, and strong community networks, New Orleans is positioned to turn innovation and local enterprise into long-term economic development. Palesa seeks to represent a bridge between funding sources, legislative bodies, the corporate power structure, and community members and small business owners during this economic transition.

Jefferson-Orleans Suburban Diametrics

Community Building

Through Development.

Palesa plants awareness.

Georgetown Law professor Sheryll Cashin outlines 3 anti–African American neighborhood processes — including “Boundary Maintenance” — and exposes how municipal systems disproportionately impact struggling suburbs.
Book: White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality.


Similar to Professor Cashin, there are countless professionals and scholars in the fields of Law, Social Justice, and Urban Infrastructure that would love to share their knowledge with communities that are being affected. We connect these professionals with Community Activists, Culture Bearers, Legislators, and Small Business owners at our public events, in forums, and on platforms that raise awareness and build a collective knowledge base about Local and Statewide Zoning and Housing Law and how it affects Community and Economic Development.

Zoning and Affordable

Housing Reform.

A Visual Conversation on Place, Housing, and Opportunity

This video is intentionally pictorial, inviting viewers to reflect on the contrasts between neighboring parishes and the stories they tell about equity and growth.

In Jefferson Parish, suburban neighborhoods showcase abundant art and placemaking efforts—features that are less visible in New Orleans’ own suburbs, despite the city’s international reputation for culture. Jefferson also demonstrates greater diversity in housing types, where apartment renters live side by side with upper-income homeowners, a dynamic often resisted in New Orleans’ single-family subdivisions.

Perhaps most striking, Jefferson’s subdivisions report lower median household incomes than their Orleans counterparts, yet enjoy stronger neighborhood wellness, greater economic activity, and more reliable access to opportunity.

The images ask us to consider: What if New Orleans embraced these same principles of placemaking, housing diversity, and shared opportunity in its own communities?

Make it stand out

Many of New Orleans’ culture bearers reside in New Orleans East, a suburb. Almost all work outside of New Orleans East, contributing millions annually to the city’s cultural economy in a myriad of forms with relatively zero community building impact on the suburbs where they live. Over investment and exclusion in affluent, white, majority space with disinvestment elsewhere, particularly in majority African American spaces hoards opportunity through systems: Exclusionary Zoning & Boundaries of Jurisdictions. These are polite words for segregation. 

Houston is the only major U.S. city without zoning—

a model of a freer market focused on broader growth rather than controlling every private parcel.

In Comparison…

How have New Orleans East’s public policies shaped a truly welcoming business climate?

NOLA: Land of Opportunity.

Culture, Public Art and Placemaking.

Education and

Workforce Development.

Events

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Workshops

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Charrettes

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Debates

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Community Meetings

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Non-profit Programs

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...and Spaces that Move You.

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Events >> Workshops >> Charrettes >> Debates >> Community Meetings >> Non-profit Programs >> ...and Spaces that Move You. >>

  • Dream it.

  • Build it.

  • Grow it.

  • Sell it.

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