Giving back to the communities in which we build stands at the heart of our culture. At Domain, we feel development is more than designing and building great properties, it is in the impact our efforts have on the greater community and our ability to improve those neighborhoods and the lives of those that live there. We believe that doing so requires an understanding of the unique challenges facing a community and reaching out to help address those challenges though innovative solutions. The following are some examples of how Domain has given back to our communities:
St. Patrick Park
St. Patrick Park is located in the heart of New Orleans’ Mid-City community that is the focus of Domain’s regional development efforts. Nearly 100 years old, St. Patrick has played an important part of community life for generations of New Orleans residents. Hurricane Katrina caused severe damage to the neighborhood surrounding the park and to the park facility itself, compounding years of neglect and leaving the park unusable.
The Domain companies stepped in and provided the funding and management to completely rebuild St. Patrick, including two new ball fields, bleachers, dugouts, fencing, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, a new scoreboard and an equipment shed. In addition, Domain brought in Ya/Ya (Young Artists/Young Aspirations), an area non-profit focused on youth art programs, to create unique permanent murals and artwork in the park.
On November 30th 2007, Domain held a celebration to rededicate the park, featuring food by area restaurants and entertainment local musicians. The first pitch was thrown to a little leaguer by a resident who himself was a little leaguer at St. Patrick over 70 years ago. Today, St. Patrick is once again playing an important role in the fabric of the Mid-City community, both through use by little league and adult league baseball and softball and through new uses like free outdoor movies on Saturday evenings.
Dr. Domino
Following Hurricane Katrina, many of the more than four thousand predominantly low to moderate income families that earned their livelihood creating the distinctive music of New Orleans lost their homes and were left scattered around the country. Thousands more who were responsible for creating the unique living culture of the city, such as Mardi Gras Indians and Social Aid & Pleasure Club Members, suffered a similar fate.
Sweet Home New Orleans is a non-profit organization created to revitalize the music and cultural community within the neighborhoods of New Orleans by helping the City’s tradition bearers return to and stay at home. The Domain Companies provided the funding and technical housing expertise necessary to build a database of these families to assist the effort to bring them home. The database, nicknamed Dr. Domino, was designed exclusively for this project by an outside software design firm. With over 4,000 participants to-date, Dr. Domino includes all of the information Sweet Home New Orleans needs to help identify the housing needs of each individual and arrange for their return home.
Café Reconcile
Café Reconcile is a New Orleans non-profit whose mission is to fuel economic vitality and growth in Central City and the greater New Orleans area by working to support community development through youth workforce development programs, and encourage entrepreneurship and home ownership in socio-economically depressed neighborhoods. In addition to providing financial support to the organization, the Domain Companies has been instrumental in helping Reconcile diversify its workforce development programs to mirror the changing New Orleans landscape. Domain and its construction partners have committed to provide ongoing opportunities for training, mentorship and permanent employment in a variety of construction trades at Domain’s large-scale development projects throughout the city.
