Latest News and Announcements

Alcee Fortier Commercial Corridor Revitalization

MQVN has partnered with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to revitalize the Alcee Fortier Blvd Commercial Corridor. As part of this revitalization, we have created an online directory of the various businesses of the corridor hosted on StayLocal. The directory can be found here. With this directory, we hope that these businesses will be more accessible to the larger New Orleans population.

In addition to the business directory, we have also conducted a needs assessment seeking direct input from business owners along the corridor. The responses to the assessment will be gathered and analyzed, and potentially presented to decision makers to resolve issues raised by the business owners.

Mission

MQVN CDC's mission is to preserve and promote our unique diversity and improving the quality of life of residents in the Greater New Orleans area, beginning in New Orleans East. Together with community partners, our work encompasses health care, environmental and agricultural concerns, education, housing, social services, economic development and culture and the arts.

Our Community 

Our main constituency identifies as low income, Asian-American, African American, White, Latino and/or immigrants/refugees. Our community is located in the New Orleans East area known as "Village de l’Est". 

Our community has high instances of poverty, unemployment, is a food dessert, and has low access to public transportation. We work to help our community members overcome these barriers and improve their quality of life through our programs and advocacy. More information can be found on Our Projects page. 

How we started

MQVN Community Development Corporation is a non profit organization created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in order to address the issues of the Vietnamese-New Orleanian community in New Orleans East. Many of the needs identified directly pertained to the major infrastructure that was decimated by Katrina without return. This includes the closing of two hospitals in the New Orleans East area and the lack of basic retail services that once thrived in the community which serves the Vietnamese-American, African-American, and Latino communities.

Through community leadership, the needs of the community were voiced to decision makers and MQVN CDC was formed to spearhead the redevelopment of the community. MQVN CDC hosted community meetings, focus groups, and interviews to establish a community plan based on what community members wanted in the redeveloping community. These focuses included: education, healthcare, workforce development, business development, urban agriculture, and more. With these directives from the community, MQVN CDC began its work to rebuild in 2006. We continue to listen to the concerns and input from community members to inform our projects and goals.