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Diners pass food around the table family style during The Highland Center’s Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Shreveport, La. By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer A volunteer places a platter of turkey on a table while preparing for The Highland Center’s Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov.
21, 2024, in Shreveport, La. By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer Slips of paper for diners to leave prayer requests sit on a table at The Highland Center in Shreveport, La., Thursday, Nov.
21, 2024. The center holds a community meal, free for anyone every Thursday. By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Highland Center in Shreveport celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday for its neighbors, providing a hot family-style dinner of turkey and all the fixin's, plus a take home 'Blessing Box' full of bread and non-perishable items for neighbors to prepare a Thanksgiving Day meal on Nov.
28. Everyone was all smiles. The atmosphere throughout the entire Highland Center is warm, friendly, and inviting to all.
A volunteer places a bowl of gravy on a table while preparing for The Highland Center’s Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Shreveport, La. Volunteers cooked 20 turkeys and all the sides and 50 students and adult volunteers served dinner to over 150 guests.
Lashon Stubbs, kitchen manager for The Highland Center, carves up a turkey while preparing for the center’s Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Shreveport, La. But it's not only at Thanksgiving that a family-style dinner is available at no cost at the Highland Center.
For 12 years, a weekly Thursday night 'Highland Blessing Dinner' has been continuously operated to walk-in guests seeking a hot meal. The dinner is led by a number of faith-based organizations called the Highland Center Ministries. A volunteer sits at each round table, welcoming and conversing with guests.
Diners and table hosts sit down for The Highland Center’s Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Shreveport, La., as volunteers assist with items such as serving beverages.
And the Highland Blessing Dinner is just one of 17 programs, services, and amenities available to support the surrounding neighborhood. “We believe that thriving neighborhoods are created when each of our neighbors can reach their potential,” executive director Madison Poche said. “The strength of our center comes from having many people and neighbors contributing what they can to care for each other.
” The women’s section of the clothing closet at The Highland Center in Shreveport, La., shown here Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.
Throughout the center, programs include afterschool enrichment for teens and job training, men's and women's clothing closets, a diaper bank, financial stability services like housing counseling and free tax preparation. The center houses five artist studios, a shared commissary kitchen for food trucks, a dance studio, rental spaces for basketball practice and children's birthday parties, and a thrift shop for clothing and home goods. The center has opened as emergency natural disaster shelter and is becoming one of the region’s first Community Lighthouses, which is a disaster response hub with backup power and water.
Many counselors and non-profits lease space in the Highland Center, which helps clients access their services. Some include The Arc Caddo-Bossier’s Goldman School, Volunteers of America’s Lighthouse Teen Club, and a HUD-Certified Housing Counseling Agency. According to Poche, data from the Census Bureau shows that nearly one out of every three households in the neighborhood earns under the federal poverty threshold, which is $15,000 for single individuals and $25,800 for families of 3.
This is three times higher than the national poverty average. Storage for the diaper bank at The Highland Center in Shreveport, La., shown here Thursday, Nov.
21, 2024. “We will continue to have issues like blight and crime until we tackle the underlying and extremely complex challenge of concentrated poverty in neighborhoods,” Poche said. She explained that the Highland Center has developed a unique, multidimensional strategy.
After leading focus groups with neighbors and researching national best practices, the center and its partners are focusing on three targeted areas: cradle-to-career education, economic stability, and neighbor wellness. The thrift store at The Highland Center in Shreveport, La., shown here Thursday, Nov.
21, 2024. To read more about the Highland Center strategy and learn more about its programs and services, visit the website ..
