Storywire
Read, watch and listen to work by Lede New Orleans Community Reporting Fellows.
How support and cost have shaped my mental health care journey
By De’Anna Johns
I am one of the 384,000 people in the New Orleans area enrolled in Medicaid. Here’s how that impacts my mental health care. Read more.
How are student athletes in New Orleans coping with chronic stress?
By Skylar Stephens
For athletes, knowing when to push and when to rest can make or break mental health. What can we as a community learn from their experiences? Read more.
What It Takes To Heal
By Kila Moore
‘What did it even mean to be mentally well?’ Kila Moore reflects on their personal journey toward mental health. Read more.
What Is Somatic Healing?
By Nia Woodside
Listen as Nia Woodside explores accessible and affordable ways New Orleanians can care for their mental and physical health. Listen here.
From Children to Adults: How Do We Talk About Mental Health in New Orleans?
By Mandy Ortiz
We spoke to New Orleans citizens of all ages about what mental health looks like to them. Here’s what we’ve heard so far. Read more.
By Valeria Ali
Working families who don’t qualify for federal food assistance often can’t afford all the groceries they need. Culture Aid NOLA is bridging the gap.
May 13, 2022
By Justin Curtis Marcano
Second Harvest Food Bank’s Chef Matt Taylor talks about a family dish that drives home the power of humility and love in feeding others.
April 29, 2022
By Lede New Orleans
Lede New Orleans gathered community members to discuss solutions. Here’s what we heard.
April 21, 2022
By Valeria Ali
A volunteer shares her experience working at a low-barrier food distribution sites in New Orleans.
April 21, 2022
By Nijah Narcisse
For Jonshell Johnson-Whitten, education coordinator at Grow Dat Youth Farm, working on the land brings healing and strength.
April 10, 2022
By Alec Devaprasad
Community Reporting Fellow Alec Devaprasad connects to food, history and neighbors at the Thursday farmers market in Mid-City.
March 27, 2022
By Autumn Jemison
Senior Fellow Autumn Jemison joined Lede New Orleans to get more experience in film. In telling community stories, she discovered something much more powerful.
Jan. 4, 2022
By Nijah Narcisse
Nijah Narcisse reflects on the complexity of food and family in her native New Orleans, and her journey toward a healthier, more balanced life.
Dec. 14, 2021
By Valeria Ali
‘Too Latina to be Arab. Too Arab to be Latina. Too ethnic to be American.’ Valeria Ali explores the complexity of personal identity.
Dec. 1, 2021
By Justin Curtis Marcano
Justin Curtis Marcano was a teen when his father and abuela taught him to eat oxtail with his hands, a bright spot in the memories he has with his dad. Marcano reflects on grief, absence and his Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinx heritage.
Nov. 5, 2021
By Alec Devaprasad
From South India to New Orleans, Alec Devaprasad explores family and identity in making his Ajji’s signature curry.
Nov. 1, 2021
By Forest Gaines Jr.
A New Orleans woman’s journey teaching kindergarten and adjusting to new motherhood amid a pandemic.
Oct. 25, 2021
Sydney Aponte, a special education teacher in Jefferson Parish, is “constantly afraid” of bringing illness home to her vulnerable daughter. Aponte shares how she is caring for herself, her family and her students.
Oct. 11, 2021
By Autumn Jemison
School social workers like Samantha King have worked to connect families with food, rental assistance and other resources during the pandemic. She explains why that help needs to continue.
Oct. 4, 2021
By Trevon Cole
To keep her first-grade students encouraged, Loreal Ivory led them in reciting Useni Eugene Perkins’ poem “Hey Black Child” every day during Zoom class.
Sept. 28, 2021
By Mally Welch
Djuané Taylor lived with depression before the pandemic, but the isolation of online school was more intense than anything she’d ever experienced before.
Sept. 28, 2021
By Dariel Duarte
Boris Alarcon moved to New Orleans from Guatemala in 2016, and is fluent in English. Still, he said language was an unexpected hurdle in the shift to online school.
Sept. 21, 2021
By Matt Valerio
High school trumpeter Jordan Colin spent spring 2021 practicing in his bedroom. He used the voice memo app on his phone to record himself playing for his teachers.
Sept. 21, 2021
By Jen Larino
Majority white media is still the norm in New Orleans, a majority Black city. Lede New Orleans wants to change that.
Aug. 24, 2021
By Keva Peters Jr.
New Orleans-based recording artists Kaylin “K3” Daigle and Isaiah “Sozi” Garner discuss their own creative process and the healing powers of R&B and hip-hop.
March 11, 2021
By Trevon Cole
From pralines to art therapy, a look at how community members in New Orleans have been processing a tough year.
Feb. 25, 2021
By Alexis Reed
Victor Harris, Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and Big Chief of the Mandingo Warriors, shared perspective on loss, healing and cultural legacy learned over 55 years of masking Mardi Gras Indian.
Feb. 11, 2021
By Jack Almeida, Trevon Cole and Jennifer Larino
We heard a mix of worry, anger and hope among young New Orleans voters who named local criminal justice reform, racial equity and the environment among their top issues.
Nov. 2, 2020
By Nikka Troy
Lede Fellow Nikka Troy recalls a moment of clarity during protests in New Orleans against police brutality and systemic racism.
July 23, 2020