Katy Reckdahl, The Times-Picayune By Katy Reckdahl, The Times-Picayune
Singer, philanthropist and sex symbol Jon Bon Jovi was the center of much of the attention today during a roundtable with at-risk young people at Cafe Reconcile, which hosted the event with other youth-program strongholds in the city: Liberty's Kitchen, the Youth Empowerment Project and the Tulane Youth Drop-In Center.
But despite a near mob scene afterward, when kids and their advocates posed with the star for photo after photo after photo, the rock star was quick to shine the spotlight on those he'd just listened to as part of his work for the White House Council for Community Solutions.
When Cafe Reconcile graduate Carl Harris, 20, needed to leave to get to work at a steakhouse, Bon Jovi stood up, shook Harris' hand and thanked him.
Harris didn't know who Bon Jovi was until Friday afternoon. "But now I do," he said, recounting how the star had asked questions about the cafe and listened as Harris bragged about his advocates at the Youth Empowerment Project.
"Always, every step, they were with me," Harris said. With their help, he made a conscious choice to step away from trouble, he said.
Others praised staff at the Drop-In Center and Cafe Reconcile for similar devotion. "They pretty much rescued me. Pulled me out," Reconcile grad Vauven Loiseau said.
The singer summed up the struggles he'd heard about during that afternoon's roundtable, most of which was conducted behind closed doors and not open to media. "It's not easy for disenfranchised and unemployed youth," Bon Jovi said, steering questions away from himself.
Had he been interested in at-risk kids since his hit "(She's a Little) Runaway"? a reporter asked.
"I don't think any one song motivated anything," he demurred, adding that "music is what I do, not what I am."
Still, when compared with the blond 48-year-old rocker with the deeply unbuttoned shirt, the other members of the White House Council -- Tulane University President Scott Cowen and New Jersey public-relations executive Michael Kempner -- were basically "chopped liver," Cowen quipped.
As cameras aimed at Bon Jovi flashed behind him, Kempner said that he was impressed with roundtable participants. "They were insightful and articulate and had a real grasp of the issues," he said, calling it "a life-changing educational moment."
In December, President Barack Obama charged the council to conduct "listening tours" to find out what communities need and what kind of programs work best. The council will then advise the president on how citizens, nonprofits, the private sector and government can best work together to address important issues. New Orleans is the first stop for the council's youth roundtables; similar forums are planned in Atlanta, Houston and New York City.
Early groundwork for the council partnership was laid here a few years ago, noted Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who participated in the roundtable. In 2009, when Landrieu was lieutenant governor, he visited Cafe Reconcile with Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
Barnes wrote a blog about the experience titled "Innovation with Crawfish Sauce: What a New Orleans Nonprofit Can Teach the Rest of the Country." In it, she noted that Landrieu had created the nation's first statewide Office of Social Entrepreneurship and that he'd told her that the cafe was an example of how "the answers to America's problems are coming from the streets of New Orleans."
Bon Jovi for six years has helped those in need through the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which has financed homeless shelters; hundreds of affordable houses, includes two dozen in Houma after Hurricane Katrina; and a "Robin Hood" restaurant that has no prices on the menu. Those who can't pay come by and volunteer in the soup kitchen or food pantry. Customers who can afford it pay for their meals, as a way of affecting social change.
"Sometimes people want to help and don't know how," Bon Jovi said on Friday, as he discussed the White House Council's mission. Some potential contributors may also be more willing to give to private entities rather than to government where they fear that their money will get caught up in red tape, he said.
Social-entrepreneurship enterprises can both do good work and have a broader effect on areas like Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard in Central City, where Reconcile is located. "These mom-and-pop places bring back neighborhoods," Bon Jovi said.
Here's another story with video:
Reported by: Natasha Robin, Reporter
Bon Jovi connects to at-risk youth
Jon Bon Jovi poses for a photograph. He was in town as a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions listening to how programs helped turn young people's lives around.
New Orleans- Smiling teens posed with rock star Jon Bon Jovi, but their visit with the famous musician was about so much more than a quick picture.
Young men and women, who have been rescued by community-based programs, sat down for a candid conversation with the Grammy-winning star.
Bon Jovi is on a tour of sorts, not to perform, but to listen as a member of a White House Council for Community Solutions.
“The president entrusted us with this opportunity to listen to the youth and each of these stops will be unique. New Orleans is very different from Seattle and New York, but they are all challenged because the opportunities are few and far between,” says Bon Jovi.
The teens talked to Bon Jovi and the other council members about their past and what life is like for them growing up in New Orleans.
“We have different issues like prostitutions, also drugs,” says participant Rashad Jame.
The teens told Bon Jovi how organizations like Café’ Reconcile, Liberty’s Kitchen and the Youth Empowerment Project have changed their lives.
By learning how the local programs work, the White House hopes to duplicate the success around the country.
“If I wasn’t introduced to this program, I would probably be hanging out with a gang or probably still on the corner doing things I shouldn’t do,” says participant Carl Harris.
The council took note on how the programs made a difference for the youth.
New Orleans was the first stop for the White House council. They will visit three other cities and then write a report on their findings in June.
The completed report will be handed over to President Obama.
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