Olive Branch Ministries, Inc.

June, 2008

Mt. Olive Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana operates in a community with a great deal of need. The mortgage crisis has hit hard in a community that was already experiencing deterioration. Shreveport, has a high drop-out rate among high school students. In a city where local businesses used to be a major strength, there are now hardly any locally-owned businesses. There are a lot of vacant lots and dilapidated homes. In order to meet the needs of the community, and to rebuild neighborhoods, Mt. Olive Baptist Church founded Olive Branch Ministries, Inc. in January of 2001.

Olive Branch’s Programs
Olive Branch Ministries seeks to build up the community through a number of programs, including Medicaid enrollment, housing counseling, capacity building, an after school tutoring program called the Enrichment School, a mature adults ministry, a Neighborhood Investment Program which works on community investment projects, and a summer food program. This year, they started a new program – free tax preparation and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) services. All of these programs work together to give community members the tools they need to build stability in their own lives and bring new life into the community. Through these programs, Olive Branch Ministries serves hundreds of people in the community.

Lindora Baker, Executive Director of Olive Branch Ministries, says that their most successful program is the Enrichment School tutoring program. The program averages sixty children, and they have a long waiting list. They have a good group of volunteers that work with the kids, and because of the tutoring services they offer, the children have had great success. The average GPA of the enrolled children has increased significantly as a result of the tutoring program.

Children participating in Olive Branch Ministries’ National Nite Out

VITA Program
One of Olive Branch’s most exciting new programs is their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and EITC services. Olive Branch decided to begin free tax preparation services this year after attending an asset building program held by the National Association of Counties (NACo). NACo talked about free tax preparation during this program, and Olive Branch realized that the clients that VITA programs work with are the same clients that Olive Branch serves. However, Olive Branch had never realized that there was such a need for tax preparation services among their clients. When they found out about VITA and the need in the community, they decided to begin their own program. Even though it was only their first year, Olive Branch Ministries completed over 150 returns on 2008 – a great success which they hope to build upon in the upcoming years.

One way they hope to enhance their tax preparation services next year is by adding asset-building opportunities at their tax sites. Lindora Baker feels that if Olive Branch can get their tax preparation clients to start thinking about paying down their debt, building up their savings, and trying to buy homes and other assets, their clients will be able to better their lives, and help build their communities back up.

Challenges to the Work
While Olive Branch Ministries is able to do amazing work for their community, they are constantly challenged by a lack of funding. It is hard for such a small organization to secure funding, when foundations and financial institutions are more interested in funding large national organizations that can serve a greater amount of people. While Olive Branch Ministries may not be able to serve the amount of clients as a national organization, they are able to bring a more personal ministry to the community than those organizations can. Because of their location and position in the community they serve, they know their clients on an individual and personal basis, and are closely in tune with what the community and their clients need. They see their clients in church, at the local grocery store, and in other places around Shreveport. Even a small amount of funding would allow them to expand their programs in a way that could really impact the community.

Children and adults taking part in National Nite Out

Building a Community Profile
Olive Branch Ministries’ profile in the community may have also increased as a result of the election of Lindora Baker to public office. In 2003 Lindora was elected to Caddo Parish Commissioner, District 6 in Shreveport. Her role as a community leader brings to light the struggles of working families in the Shreveport area. Through her commitment to the community, and the work of Olive Branch Ministries’ staff and volunteers, the working families of Shreveport are starting to rebuild their neighborhoods and bring new life to their communities.