Bayou Road Shops Receive Grants to Reopen

By Stephen Maloney

Charmaine Neville began to sway as she lowered the chorus to a whispering chant.

“Watch the water,” she sang. “Watch that water.” The crowd gathered on the sidewalk along Bayou Road joined in, swaying and clapping as her piano player Amasa Miller branched into a solo.

Neville's words were fitting for the group of small business owners celebrating the grand reopening of a string of women-owned stores along Bayou Road , an open waterway used to haul merchandise through the city in the 1700s.

Today, the brick-lined street serves as the centerpiece of a tight-knit community struggling to return near the New Orleans Fair Grounds.

The self-proclaimed “Belles of Bayou Road” have worked tirelessly to revitalize the 2500 block of Bayou Road since Hurricane Katrina tore the roofs off several buildings and left more than 3 feet of floodwater in the street.

New Orleans nonprofit business incubator Idea Village has pumped more than $400,000 in grants and services into 110 businesses through the Pay it Forward Fund established in 2005 to encourage recipients to repay support in kind by helping a fellow small business recover.

So far, recipients have reinvested more than $20,000, said Idea Village President Tim Williamson.

“The goal is to develop five neighborhood clusters in the next two years,” Williamson said. “Each cluster will have 20 small businesses, creating business corridors. We hope to help 100 businesses in the next two years.”

The Bayou Road project will serve as a template for future projects focused on individual businesses, Williamson said. “The recovery starts here,” he said. “This will serve as a catalyst to bring people back. This project will pay dividends for years to come.”

The assistance helps deepen business owners' commitment to their neighborhood and city.

“This is a small feat on one hand and a monumental step on the other,” Bayou Road business owner Beverly McKenna said. “It is in the spirit of our forefathers that these ladies have vowed to rebuild and carry on.”

Community Book Center owner Vera Warren-Williams related Bayou Road 's return to an African proverb. “It says ‘When spider webs unite, it can tie up a lion.' Katrina was a fearless lion. We have tied up the lion. We have tied up doubt, inadequacy and systems that are not designed to help small businesses.”

City Councilman Oliver Thomas handed out certificates of thanks before cutting ribbons on each of the businesses. He said cities in other states would not have the problems New Orleans still faces more than a year after the storm.

“If this was New York , we would have billions by now,” he said as he presented Williamson with a certificate. “If it was Florida , we wouldn't be scraping by. If it was Texas ... well, the storm probably wouldn't have even hit. We don't have a lot but what we do have is people like Tim (Williamson.)”

For Jordan's Learning Academy Owner and Director Yashica Jordan, Idea Village helped her open a day care in November where she cares for 26 children. “I didn't know things like this happened in real life,” Jordan said. “They bought me yard toys, a sign and a fence for my Louisiana inspection. Whatever someone needs, I can pay it forward.”

McKenna had evacuated to Nashville , Tenn. , when Williamson called and offered to help revive the New Orleans Tribune, a publication she runs out of her Esplanade Avenue office.

“They are wonderful people to work with,” she said. “Tim asked me how he could help me. He sent me $2,500, which helped me and my five employees get back.”

Neville has also received assistance from the Pay it Forward Fund, and her appearance at the reopening ceremony was part of her repayment.

“My real purpose is to show support. Without support, we are lost,” Neville said. “It's easy to feel not wanted. This organization is showing us yes, we do want you here.”•