After Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana, killing dozens and damaging or destroying 46,000 homes, David Singleton flew into action to help with disaster response. What he saw motivated him to tackle the root cause of the devastation. In 2024, he launched the Cajun Resilience project to help disadvantaged, under-represented Louisiana communities restore clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment. “Here where I live, we have some of the largest petrochemical plants in the world,” he says. “Louisiana, especially where I live, is mostly poor people of color and worse education, worse healthcare. We’ve got these billionaires right here, polluting everything that we do have. I remember the old ways, and to see the land and rivers the way they are [now] really got at me.” Tap water sometimes runs brown. Residents face elevated risk of skin conditions, heart disease, and various cancers. The refineries have been there for generations and provide jobs, making locals feel disempowered. The Cajun Resilience Project has educated and mobilized hundreds of citizens to protect their communities. Using collective strength to fight for change, it’s turning despair into hope.
In its first year, the Cajun Resilience Project built a groundswell of 700+ community members. It serves the Gulf Coast, focusing on “Portie Town,” a disadvantaged blue-collar community in Sulphur, Louisiana, in Calcasieu Parish, that ranks in the top 3% of US communities for hurricane risk. The Cajun Resilience Project is committed to environmental revitalization. It holds educational meetings, often partnering with another nonprofit or a scientist. “People are starting to realize how everything’s affecting their health and their children’s health,” Singleton says. “It’s a pretty powerful coalition. We do community meals and everybody will show up.” The Cajun Resilience Project organizes river and coastline cleanups. It installs air monitors to track pollutants like PM 2.5 and VOCs. It tests local drinking water and waterways. Members attend hearings of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Says Singleton, “We bring as many people with us as we can, and we get up there and say what we have to say.” Fiscal sponsorship would help the group meet future goals like cleaning up the Calcasieu River.