The recipient entity's physical address:
           717 Saint Andrews Blvd Laplace, LA 70068

The recipient entity's mailing address (if different):
           717 Saint Andrews Blvd Laplace, LA 70068

Type of Entity (for instance, a nonprofit corporation):  Non-Profit Corporation

If the entity is a corporation, list the names of the incorporators:
          Pierre Hollins

The last four digits of the entity's taxpayer ID number:  4139

What is the dollar amount of the request?  $20,000

What type of request is this?  General Appropriation

Is this entity in good standing with the Secretary of State?  Yes

Provide the name of each member of the recipient entity's governing board and officers:
           Pierre Hollins, 421 Coles Landing, Laplace, LA 70068
Andrea Williams, 330 1st Street, St. Rose, LA 70087
Percy Hollins, 145 Oakridge Dr. Laplace, LA 70068
Joshua Taylor, 14 Jennifer Ct. Laplace, LA 70068
Tamor Ursin, PO Box 112. St. Rose, LA 70087
Cortez Smith, 925 E. Terrace St., Destrehan, Louisiana
Tanasha Brown, 145 Oakridge Dr. Laplace, LA 70068
Lashunda Coleman, 2109 Van Arpel Dr. Laplace, LA 70068
Torrence Bardell, 3301 W. Esplanade Ave. Apt. 16263, Metairie, LA 70002

Provide a summary of the project or program:
           Rooted Ones aims to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and cycle of poverty by addressing the interconnected challenges facing New Orleans youth, particularly Black youth. The Rooted Ones Mentoring Program partners with youth-serving organizations such as the St. Charles CARE Center, which identifies and refers youth who would benefit from additional long-term mentorship. Many of these young people receive initial services through diversion programs or other partner agencies but lack consistent, ongoing support systems. Our program complements, rather than duplicates, existing services, focusing on holistic development and sustained personal connection.

Youth are referred through community partners, schools, faith-based organizations, and agencies involved with the juvenile justice system. Many mentees also refer their peers. Prospective mentees and their caregivers complete an intake survey to identify goals and support needs.

Our programming integrates three interconnected focus areas: Academic & Career Preparation, Mental Health & Emotional Wellness, and Recreation & Community Engagement. Each element reinforces the others to create a well-rounded support system.

Academic & Career Preparation
We equip mentees with tools for future success through ACT boot camps, tutoring, job shadowing with relatable professionals, and an apparel design entrepreneurship project. These experiences foster critical thinking, creativity, and self-advocacy while exposing youth to multiple pathways, like college, career, or military. By helping mentees visualize attainable futures, particularly through job shadowing, we counteract the effects of limited opportunity and expand their sense of possibility.

Mental Health & Emotional Wellness
Rooted Ones offers monthly Rooted Discussions and Conversations with Coaches, which provide safe spaces for mentees to share experiences, discuss stressors, and build emotional awareness, providing tools for managing anger, grief, and anxiety. For many participants, these gatherings are their only accessible form of mental health support. They reduce stigma, strengthen peer relationships, and encourage youth to pursue counseling when needed.

Recreation & Community Engagement
Positive shared experiences strengthen trust, discipline, and belonging. Our recreational activities include: Fishing with the Fellas, Brothers in the Kitchen cooking lessons, Bowling Night, Field Day, Holiday Toy Drive, Community Cleanup events, and yoga and yoga teacher training with Yeah Yoga. They help mentees build social skills, confidence, and resilience.

In 2024, Rooted Ones served 43 mentees with strong measurable outcomes:
88% showed academic improvement
77% avoided risky behaviors and recidivism
25% of mentees completing the program enrolled in college

These results demonstrate that consistent mentoring relationships and holistic, culturally responsive programming can significantly influence young men’s educational and personal trajectories.

Rooted Ones is a fully volunteer-led organization, supported by a working board, dedicated mentors, and guided by Founder and CEO Pierre Hollins. Mentors are volunteers who receive modest stipends to promote retention and honor their commitment. This lean structure ensures that the majority of resources are invested directly in youth programming. Mentors are trained in trauma-informed care, youth development, and motivational interviewing to ensure safe, supportive relationships with participants.

At its heart, Rooted Ones is built on relationships between mentor and mentee, community and youth, potential and opportunity. By investing in these connections, we are cultivating not only stronger individuals but a stronger, more resilient New Orleans.

What is the budget relative to the project for which funding is requested?:
          Salaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,600
          Professional Services. . . $0
          Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . $7,080
          Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . $0
          Major Repairs . . . . . . . $0
          Operating Services. . . . $15,000
          Other Charges. . . . . . . $0

Does your organization have any outstanding audit issues or findings?  No

If 'Yes' is your organization working with the appropriate governmental agencies to resolve those issues or findings?
          Not Applicable

What is the entity's public purpose, sought to be achieved through the use of state monies?
          Rooted Ones provides mentoring, mental health support, and personal development programming for young men ages 13-21 in New Orleans. Through consistent guidance, community- and skill-building activities, participants develop confidence, resilience, and positive life direction, diverting youth from the justice system and helping them pursue educational and personal success.

Rooted Ones aims to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and cycle of poverty by addressing the interconnected challenges facing New Orleans youth, particularly Black youth. These challenges include high poverty rates (36.9%), low average ACT scores (17.74), school non-enrollment (11.2%), low high school graduation rates (25%), high suspension rates (14%), unemployment (18.8%), lack of physical activity (23.6%), low college enrollment (41.2%), and a 34% recidivism rate for incarcerated youth. These factors lead to toxic stress, self-regulation issues, limited opportunities for learning essential life skills, reduced stability, health, and future opportunities. Since its inception, Rooted Ones has been committed to focused community outreach, recruiting youth in the most need, facing the majority of these outlined challenges, and who otherwise would not have access to the support system of mentorship.

In his work as a juvenile probation officer, founder Pierre Hollins recognized that in the New Orleans area, too many young men grow up without consistent access to positive role models, safe spaces, or opportunities to explore their potential. Poverty, violence, and systemic inequities have created environments where success can feel out of reach, and the path from adolescence to adulthood is fraught with barriers. Louisiana continues to have one of the highest youth incarceration rates in the country, with Black male youth disproportionately represented. Many of these young people are not inherently “at-risk” youth; they are resource-limited, navigating circumstances that have denied them stable foundations, meaningful guidance, social-emotional support, and opportunities to make positive choices.

Rooted Ones was founded to change that narrative. Our mentoring and mental health programs help young men ages 13-21, including those who have been involved in the juvenile justice system, develop confidence, discipline, and resilience while building skills that prepare them for adulthood. The young people we serve are not defined by their mistakes; they are motivated to grow, reconnect with their communities, and build brighter futures. Without intervention, many of these youth risk disengagement from school, unstable employment, and cycles of recidivism. With the right guidance, they can thrive.

What are the goals and objectives for achieving such purpose?
          Rooted Ones’ evaluation strategies include pre- and post-program surveys to measure social emotional skill improvement. These approaches are backed by research and inspired by Panorama Education’s social emotional learning evaluation approaches and research from the Wallace Foundation. We also measure academic improvement by assessing mentees’ grades, increased abilities to set goals by assessing mentees’ participation in goal-setting exercises, and reduced recidivism and community engagement by assessing mentees’ attendance at Rooted Ones’ mentorship sessions and skill-building activities. Mentees also take a modified version of the Louisiana Caring Communities Youth Survey designed to measure mentees’ improvement in avoiding risky behaviors, like drug and alcohol use. All of this data informs Rooted Ones’ programmatic approach by displaying any specific and notable challenges mentees are facing and revealing any shortfalls in engagement for mentors to be able to course correct.

We’ve set the following goals for the next two years:
50 youth will participate in weekly mentoring, mental health, and enrichment activities that promote personal growth, accountability, and confidence.

45 youth (90%) will demonstrate academic improvement, as measured by GPA gains, school attendance, or completion of credit recovery.

35 youth (70%) will complete job readiness, entrepreneurship, or college preparation activities, including ACT boot camps, job shadowing, and business development workshops.

15 youth (30%) will secure postsecondary placements, including college enrollment, trade certification, or full-time employment.

40 youth (80%) will report improved mental health and emotional resilience, measured through participation surveys and mentor feedback.

What is the proposed length of time estimated by the entity to accomplish the purpose?
           2 years

If any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official is an officer, director, trustee, or employee of the recipient entity who receives compensation or holds any ownership interest therein:
     (a) If an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of the official and the office held by such person:
                 N/A
    
     (b) If an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of such person; the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related; and the nature of the relationship:
                 N/A

     (c) The percentage of the official's or immediate family member's ownership interest in the recipient entity, if any:
                 N/A

     (d) The position, if any, held by the official or immediate family member in the recipient entity:
                  N/A

If the recipient entity has a contract with any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official or with the state or any political subdivision of the state:
(a) If the contract is with an elected or appointed state official, provide the name and address of the official and the office held by such person: 
               N/A

(b) If the contract is with an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official:
          Provide the name and address of such person:
               N/A

          Provide the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related:
                N/A

          What is the nature of the relationship?  N/A

(c) If the contract is with the state or a political subdivision of the state, provide the name and address of the state entity or political subdivision of the state:
                 N/A

(d) The nature of the contract, including a description of the goods or services provided or to be provided pursuant to the contract:
               N/A


Contact Information
name:  Pierre Hollins 
                                       address:  717 Saint Andrews Blvd Laplace, LA 70068
                                       phone:  504-326-7505
                                       fax: 
                                       e-mail:  plhollins@rootedones.org
                                       relationship to entity:  Founder/CEO