Leona Tate Foundation For Change Inc

THE LEONA TATE FOUNDATION'S MISSION ISTO PROMOTE, IMPROVE, AND ENHANCE RACIAL EQUALITY THROUGH VARIOUS AVENUES OF EDUCATION. TO EMPOWER AND ENRICH OUR COMMUNITIES FROM A SPIRITUAL, MULTICULTURAL, ECONOMICAL, HISTORICAL, AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE.

IN 2009, LEONA TATE CREATED THE LEONA TATE FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE, INC (LTFC) TO CONTINUE EDUCATING ALL PEOPLE ABOUT THE LESSONS OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND MINORITIES? STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY. LTFC OPERATES WITH THE MISSION: ?TO PROMOTE, IMPROVE AND ENHANCE RACIAL EQUALITY THROUGH VARIOUS AVENUES OF EDUCATION. ?TO EMPOWER AND ENRICH OUR COMMUNITIES FROM A SPIRITUAL, MULTICULTURAL, ECONOMICAL, HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE. THE FOUNDATION IS DEDICATED TO PRESERVING, INTERPRETING AND DISSEMINATING THE STORY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL EDUCATION IN NEW ORLEANS, BY SHARING THE STORIES OF THE THREE AFRICAN-AMERICAN GIRLS WHO INTEGRATED MCDONOGH #19 IN 1960 AND THOSE WHO HELPED TO MAKE DESEGREGATION A REALITY. LTFC SEEKS TO REACH PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND ETHNICITIES. DEVOTED TO ITS MISSION, LTFC CELEBRATES THE COURAGE OF ORDINARY PEOPLE IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY AND CREATES A SAFE SPACE TO DEVELOP IDEAS AND METHODS TO BUILD A MORE JUST SOCIETY. AFTER OVER TEN YEARS OF PLANNING AND FUNDRAISING, THE LEONA TATE FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE, INC. ACQUIRED MCDONOGH #19 IN JANUARY 2020 WITH THE PRIMARY GOAL OF RESTORING THE HISTORIC PROPERTY AND PROVIDING A PLACE TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ABOUT NEW ORLEANS CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY. FROM APRIL 2020- MARCH 2021, THE FOUNDATION HAS MANAGED THE CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSITION OF MCDONOGH #19 TO THE TATE ETIENNE & PREVOST (TEP) INTERPRETIVE CENTER. THE TEP CENTER IS A CAMPUS BUILT ON ANTI-RACIST PRINCIPLES, WHERE THE FOUNDATION AND ITS PARTNERS HAVE THE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BRIDGE CIVIL RIGHTS EXHIBITS AND EDUCATION WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY IN THE PHYSICAL SPACE WHERE HISTORY HAPPENED. BEYOND THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF MCDONOGH #19, AS IT TRANSITIONS TO THE TATE, ETIENNE & PREVOST INTERPRETIVE CENTER, IN 2020, THE LEONA TATE FOUNDATION CONTINUED THE DAILY OPERATION OF THE LOWER NINTH WARD LIVING MUSEUM. LTFC ASSUMED THE RESPONSIBILITY OF OPERATING THE LIVING MUSEUM IN 2017. THIS SIX-ROOM HOUSE MUSEUM IS DEDICATED TO SHARING THE NARRATIVES OF LOWER NINTH WARD RESIDENTS AND THE CULTURE THAT MAKES THIS NEW ORLEANS GEM SO SPECIAL. FROM OPENING ITS DOORS IN 2013 UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC, THE LIVING MUSEUM WELCOMED AN AVERAGE OF 18,000 VISITORS PER YEAR. WITH THE OPENING OF THE TEP CENTER SLATED FOR NOVEMBER 2021, LTFC HAS SPENT THE PAST YEAR ADOPTING APPROPRIATE COVID-19 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR THE CENTER. WITH RESEARCH ON GUIDANCE FROM THE CDC AND EXPERIENCE OPERATING THE LOWER NINTH WARD LIVING MUSEUM, LTFC IS FULLY PREPARED TO OPEN THE TEP CENTER WITH STANDARD SAFETY PROTOCOLS. EVEN WITH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, LTFC CONTINUED PROGRAMMING THAT HELPS REACH THE MISSION TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND HISTORY OF SYSTEMIC RACISM. LTFC CONDUCTED FIVE EDUCATIONAL TEP TALKS AND WAS A PART OF THE CITYWIDE ?60TH ANNIVERSARY PROCLAMATION DAY'' IN NOVEMBER 2020, WHICH COMMEMORATED THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN NEW ORLEANS.