NEW ORLEANS, LA (June 30, 2016) - Ryan D. "Jume" Jumonville, a Baton Rouge native, provided critical support to help fund the new $11.1 million dollar Desire Community Square.
"We are so grateful to Jume for his support and are thrilled to know that we can finish the Desire Community Square project on time and join in revitalizing the Ninth Ward. We appreciate receiving a FEMA assistance grant, in addition to funds we're raising from private donors for non-covered items, as we rebuild on the site of our New Orleans ministry campus that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina," said Danny Wuerffel.
Founded in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans in 1990, Desire Street is preparing, nearly eleven years after Hurricane Katrina, to host a grand reopening of its campus on August 27th. The new Desire Community Square will contain a full-service medical clinic, a children's early learning center, and a community wellness center.
"I love Louisiana, and if the heart of Louisiana is Baton Rouge, its soul is most definitely New Orleans. The culture, character, and spirit of the people of New Orleans is unmatched. Danny Wuerffel understands this and believes that every child in this great city deserves to have a place like the Desire Community Square," said Jumonville.
About Desire Street Ministries
Desire Street Ministries partners with urban ministries to encourage, equip, empower and connect them so they can become sustainable and thrive for the long-run necessary to revitalize impoverished neighborhoods through spiritual and community development. The rebuilding project in New Orleans is aimed at not only replacing what was lost, but contributing to an improved quality of life in the Ninth Ward. Serving inner-city partner ministries across the Southeast, Desire Street Ministries is led by former New Orleans Saints and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel. What began with volunteering to spend time with kids in the Desire neighborhood, developed into a passion he couldn't ignore and a vision to see every neighborhood become a desirable place to live. Upon retiring from professional football in 2004, Mr. Wuerffel went to work for Desire Street full-time.
For more information on Desire Street and its ministry partners, see www.desirestreet.org, and Facebook (www.facebook.com/desirestreet).
Media Contact:
Diane Hitzfeld
dhitzfeld@desirestreet.org