Mission:
To collect and showcase the authentic stories of real people and communities navigating the process of racial healing.

Background:
Healing Histories, a project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Racial Equity, New Orleans, and Communications teams, seeks to promote dialogue and storytelling as important aspects of racial healing. The Web site presents interactive documentaries that narrate different residents' perspectives on the legacy of racism and segregation in their communities, as well as the steps neighbors are taking to resolve inequities and improve health, education, and economic outcomes for their children.

The first documentary in the series focuses on Central City in New Orleans. Over the next few years, the project will capture similar stories from the foundation's place-based work in Michigan, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

Outstanding Web Features:
Visitors to the site can view photographs, videos, and interviews with community activists, residents, and children of Central City — a neighborhood shaped by its integrated beginnings, the Jim Crow era, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and where racism and disparities in health, education, and opportunities had become institutionalized. Organized into sections titled "Our History," "Our Homes," "Our Neighbors," "Our Culture," and "Our Jobs," the site showcases nonprofit organizations and individuals working to navigate the process of racial healing and create a racially and economically integrated community. The site shares information about the neighborhood's legacy, including its role in the civil rights movement, and describes how a public housing project was transformed into a mixed-income development to help families in the neighborhood rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina, build assets through home ownership, and access educational, economic, and recreational opportunities. Visitors to the site also can explore stories of how residents formed a neighborhood association and worked with the local police to deter crime; how cultural heritage and art help provide a foundation for children's healthy development as well as racial healing; and how education, employment, and housing opportunities are interconnected.