Benefit planned for deputy; more in new River Views column by Lori Lyons ä7G
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WEDNESDAY APRIL 29, 2015 H
JEFFERSON • NEW ORLEANS • PLAQUEMINES • RIVER PARISHES • ST. BERNARD THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Luncheon to honor Grace House alums Event also will recognize role models for clients BY MARY RICKARD
Special to The Advocate Michelle Duplantis has nervously practiced the speech she will deliver at the 20th annual Women of Substance luncheon to be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, May 8, at the Audubon Tea Room. Having completed a sixmonth substance-abuse treatment program and aftercare
at Grace House, Duplantis is being honored as its Alumna of the Year. “My family is so proud of me now because I am doing such a great job at being a human being,” Duplantis said. Several other women also will be honored for acting as role models to Grace House clients, including Walton Goldring, Ali Rouse Royster and Celie
Stumm. The Richard “Buzzy” Gaiennie Award will be presented to Susan Rodriguez, and the Volunteer Recognition Award will go to Pam Albers. Duplantis recently joined the staff at Bridge House, the men’s recovery facility. Having turned her life around, she now sponsors seven other women striving to become sober and self-sufficient. She even tat-
tooed her sobriety date, 10-1812, on her forearm as a visual reminder of the turning point. Her life has not always been one to be modeled. Duplantis began smoking marijuana Duplantis at just 13. Four years later, her father died from a narcotics overdose, and she became more
depressed. “I used to mask everything. When my father died, I lost my best friend,” she said. Injuries from car accidents led her to use opiates to dull the physical pain. “Doctors told me the pills would be addictive, but I never thought it would be that bad.” She stopped taking pain medication when she became pregnant, but was prescribed Percocet following the birth of her daughter by Caesarean section.
Her addiction resumed and she started selling pills from pain clinics to earn money. “The DEA came to my house … I was loaded when they came to my door,” she said. Charged with four felonies, Duplantis was jailed, but quickly released because of overcrowding. Receiving no treatment for her addiction, she soon escalated to heroin. Finally, her mother insisted äSee GRACE HOUSE, page 6G
Lynne Jensen
THROW ME SOMETHIN’
Fashionable luncheon supports women “Suits and Salads” is the calling card for the sixth annual luncheon and fashion show supporting Dress for Success, an organization offering women in our community a network of support, career development tools and professional attire to help them thrive at work and in life. The luncheon starts with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 11 a.m. Friday, May 15, at The Hyatt Regency Hotel, 601 Loyola Ave. The Truffle Honeys will entertain. Lunch, the fashion show and the Volunteer of the Year presentation starts at noon, with the keynote speech by Ti Adelaide Martin. Men and women will gather to support Dress for Success, which also offers help with résumé-writing and monthly meetings, called Professional Women’s Group, addressing financial literacy, balancing work and everyday life, and health and wellness issues. “The work that Dress for Success New Orleans does not only impacts the women that we serve but also their families and the community,” said Diane Riche, president of the organization. “When a woman gets a job and becomes financially independent, she can provide for her family, and she sets an excellent example for her children.” äSee JENSEN, page 6G
Advocate staff photos by DANIEL ERATH
Albinas Prizgintas performs an organ concert at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans on April 21.
Joyful noise
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ABOVE: Tsering Phuntsok performs a Buddhist chant between organ sets. RIGHT: Chase Robinson walks the labyrinth set up by the church altar during the organ concert.
lbinas Prizgintas, the director of musical ministries for Trinity Episcopal Church, performed on the 5,000-pipe tracker organ as part of the Trinity Artist Series in the sanctuary at 1329 Jackson Ave. on April 21. Artists in the series include jazz pianist Donald Blum at 5 p.m. Sunday; Sopranos Valerie and Imanni Jones Francis and pianist Wilfred Delphin in a varied program of classic, opera, art songs and spirituals at 5 p.m. May 10; and the Tom Sancton Jazz Quartet at 5 p.m. May 17. Prizgintas will present music from classical baroque to vintage rock and popular tunes at the Organ and Labyrinth and Candlelight programs, 6 p.m. Tuesdays, May 5, May 12 and May 19. For information, visit www.trinitynola.org.
Haynes robotics team goes to Calif. The LEGO group and the organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) have chosen the Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies middle school robotics team to compete in AROUND the FIRST Lego JEFF League InterEVA JACOB national North BARKOFF American Robotics Open planned for May 15-17 in San Diego. The Haynes team consists of seventh- and eighth-grade students who are sponsored
GiveNOLA Day aims to raise $3 million for 571 nonprofits Advocate staff report
Photo provided by Haynes
Members of the Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies middle school robotics team who will compete next month in the FIRST Lego League International North American Robotics Open in San Diego are, front, Radeeya Islam; second row from left, Luke Vedros, Aakash Zaveri, Kevin Kim and Judy Kase, math teacher and robotics moderator; back row, Milan Mardia, äSee BARKOFF, page 9G Jacob Zanca, Prokkawn Majumdar and Aqib Zakaria.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation is sponsoring GiveNOLA Day, a 24-hour online giving day, on Tuesday. GNOF hopes to raise $3 million from 25,000 donors for the 571 participating nonprofits. In its inaugural year last year, GiveNOLA Day raised $2.2 million for 309 participating nonprofits from more than 19,600 donors. Every donation of $10 or more made at givenola.org on GiveNOLA Day will be amplified on this one day of giving through national funds and a
local pool of incentive dollars for participating organizations. GNOF does not collect any fees from contributions, so the nonprofit organizations will receive the maximum benefit. GiveNOLA Day is tied to a national event called Give Local America, in which community foundations across America ask their communities to give back on May 5. GNOF’s 13-parish region comprises Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipa-
hoa, Terrebonne and Washington parishes. All donations made through givenola.org go directly to participating nonprofits. In New Orleans, Mexican food and a margarita and beer happy hour will lend a Cinco de Mayo flair to GiveNOLA Day events from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lafayette Square, 600 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans. There will be entertainment and a donation station for online giving. There will be food from Juan’s Flying Burrito from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.