TechNOLA Focuses on Getting Charities Back Up
Lori Johnston
April 13, 2007

The day before Hurricane Katrina, Lisa Conescu stopped by her office with a few backup disks to save important computer files.

She evacuated New Orleans, figuring that would allow her to get some work done on a personal laptop.

But she never saw her desktop computer again. The roof was blown off her building.

Armed with her laptop, Conescu worked out of Baton Rouge coffee shops with wireless Internet during the weeks after the storm. Her efforts were aimed toward people in need, as she tried to reach nearly 400 college students who receive scholarships from the nonprofit organization Jefferson Dollars for Scholars.

"They needed to get some help for us," she said. "That was the crisis that I felt the organization faced. I felt like my highest priority was kids who didn't know what else to do."

Conescu, the group's executive director, helped those she was able to reach via e-mail navigate through difficulties such as financial issues as schools in other states were offering free tuition but not covering room and board.

"It was just unending waves of 'Oh my gosh, I need to do this,' " she said. "That was for the kids, and that was based on what we do and what we needed to do."

Now, Atlanta-based TechBridge is doing what it can to help 19 Louisiana nonprofits, including Jefferson Dollars for Scholars, get back on their feet.

With a $200,000 grant from Microsoft Corp., TechBridge, the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations and Nonprofit Central launched the TechNOLA Project in September.

A strong social sector is one of the keys to successful recovery in areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said TechBridge Chief Operating Officer Michael Nachman. The TechNOLA Project is offering a range of technology services to boost the productivity, visibility and sustainability of organizations helping to rebuild New Orleans.

"Thank goodness for TechBridge to come in from a city that wasn't in pain and to acknowledge the basic needs that groups like ours have and to say, 'Let us help you with it,' " Conescu said.

Other organizations receiving support from TechBridge include a housing agency providing low-income homeowners with mortgage counseling and assistance, a residential program for children with terminal illnesses and a museum working to preserve local indigenous culture.

Twelve of the 19 are receiving free direct technology services to help them build capacity and meet increased service demands. Ten -- including three receiving direct technology services -- are taking advantage of free, remote access to a suite of office applications, Web and e-mail hosting services through the TechNOLA Hosting IT Services solution.

"Hopefully after this is all finished ... if this should ever happen again, I'll be able to use my laptop to access different information that I need," said Laura Jensen, executive director of Raintree Children and Family Services. "We'll just be much better organized."

Raintree operates a group home for teenage girls and foster care program for those in the state's custody, and after-school services for kids deemed to be at high risk for suspension and expulsion, among other initiatives.

As a result of Katrina, Raintree experienced 138 percent staff turnover, dropping from 75 to about 50 workers. In addition to setting up remote network access, TechBridge also is helping install computer programs they have previously purchased.

"We just don't have the people power right now to do that ourselves," she said. "TechBridge is helping us establish stronger [technology] resources and a support system for our staff."

After operating from home for about eight months, Conescu returned to her office. She and her staff didn't have Internet access, and the computers they were able to bring in weren't linked and networked.

"So we were pretty primitive," she said.

TechBridge performed a technology assessment with project recommendations, addressing areas of deficiency, including hardware, software and implementation efforts.

"They helped us really get organized," said Conescu, whose organization gives out about 120 scholarships annually.

They took advantage of TechBridge's Web and e-mail hosting services as well. Their e-mail addresses are now set up through their Web site, www.jeffersondollarsforscholars.org. The Web site is up, and although it's not complete, Conescu recognizes the importance of having some type of online presence.

"Our Web site disappeared in the storm because our host disappeared. All of a sudden, we were gone," she said.

Before the storm, Conescu said each nonprofit had a sense that what they were doing was important. Now, with the rebuilding continuing, "if you are meeting a community need, that need is a thousand times greater after something like this," she said.

Raintree had to close satellite offices in Metairie and Ponchatoula. The organization, which serves nearly 300 children and teens and assists families with infants and toddlers with special needs, sees groups such as TechBridge playing a role in their post-Katrina efforts.

"A lot of what we're doing is really important to people coming back and rebuilding," Jensen said. "If they can't get the services they need for their children, it's hard for them to come back."