Louisiana Fishers:
Livelihood, Tradition, and Culture at Risk
SMHA is working today to help
Louisiana's fishers survive the unprecedented doom
they are facing in the wake of the current oil spill.
Click here to learn more, including how you can help
SMHA Executive Director Lorna Bourg has composed a series of open letters to the President of the United States regarding this event. Click here to read these letters.
Click here to learn more, including how you can help
SMHA Executive Director Lorna Bourg has composed a series of open letters to the President of the United States regarding this event. Click here to read these letters.
SMHA's Lorna Bourg has proposed National Disaster Recovery Bonds. Click here to learn more about proposed National Disaster Recovery Bonds.
SMHA: A Passion for Justice
Since it was founded in 1969, Southern Mutual Help Association (SMHA) has helped people develop strong, healthy, prosperous rural communities in Louisiana. Our special focus is with distressed rural communities whose livelihoods are interdependent with our land and waters. We work primarily with agricultural and pervasively poor communities, women and people of color. We help build rural communities through people's growth in their own empowerment and the just management of resources.SMHA's foundation was — and still is — our strong commitment to ending poverty and a passion for justice.
West End Redevelopment
Video: West End, Hopkins Street. from Center for Rural Strategies on Vimeo.SMHA's West End Redevelopment Initiative was launched in the Fall of 2008 in partnership with the City of New Iberia, LA, and a private donor who was born and raised in the district. Click here for details of this plan to revitalize a 600-acre district.
Recent SMHA News
SMHA Gets First Hand View of the Oil DisasterClick here for full story
Rosemary Returns Home
Click here for full story
Gators Go To Afghanistan!
Click here for full story
Click here for full list of recent news items from SMHA
Teche Ridge: Affordable Housing, Traditional Neighborhood Design
SMHA's $150 million Teche Ridge development is designed to change the face of affordable housing in the Acadiana region of Louisiana by integrating affordable units among market-rate units in such a way that the affordable homes are indistinguishable from the homes surrounding them.
Click here to visit the Teche Ridge web site.
SMHA's Programs
Southern Mutual Help's work is clustered in two broad areas: Building Rural Communities and Life Quality. Although listed as separate program areas, SMHA's work is holistic and interrelated. Programs and initiatives are intertwined, building upon, supporting, and reinforcing each other. All are programs designed to help people help themselves and provide on-ramps to the economic mainstream.Click here to learn more about SMHA's programs
Contact Us
Southern Mutual Help Association, Inc.3602 Old Jeanerette Road
New Iberia, LA 70563
337-367-3277
FAX: 337-367-3279
Email: smha@southernmutualhelp.org
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