Youth Empowerment Project celebrates 20 years in New Orleans | Inspired by Louisiana

As with Alridge, the organization’s staff saw something in Rogers. They asked her to come back as a part-time teacher.

A dozen years later, Rogers works full time as a site coordinator and educator at the YEP Learning Center in the West Bank, helping adults in that region earn the same certification she earned a dozen years ago. of years. Through his interactions with his students, who range from 16-year-olds referred by juvenile court judges to a 77-year-old man, Rogers glimpses the myriad challenges New Orleanians face.

But she reminds her students that they are much more than these struggles.

“I come from the Desire Housing Project,” Rogers said, referring to the development of New Orleans where she grew up, “but that’s not all I am.”