First Grace Community Alliance

The purpose of First Grace Community Alliance (FGCA)-- the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that sustains Hagar’s House-- is to work for and with people in need, especially women and their children, by meeting food, housing, and other emergency needs, while simultaneously challenging systemic poverty in the greater New Orleans area.  The mission of Hagar’s House, a program of FGCA, is to serve as a sanctuary for women and children in New Orleans by providing a residential community, resource assistance, and a safe space to transition into permanent housing. 

Hagar’s House began in November 2007, at the peak of the ongoing housing crisis in New Orleans.  At that time, four young AmeriCorps volunteers from Louisiana and Mississippi, who were living in First Grace United Methodist Church, opened and staffed several large rooms in the church as Hagar's House, a place where women in need of housing found warm meals and shelter.  As the staff witnessed a continuing need for Hagar's House’s services in the city, the church purchased and volunteers renovated a colorful two-story home that is now fully open as Hagar’s House.  Later, in 2014, as staff witnessed a need for more holistic legal services for families, FGCA opened Project Ishmael, a pro bono immigration legal program for children and a sister program of Hagar’s House.

First Grace Community Alliance operates two programs 1) Project Ishmael which is a pro bono immigration legal program for children located in First Grace United Methodist Church in Mid City New Orleans and 2) Hagar's House which is a sanctuary for women and children in New Orleans that provides an open and empowering residential community, resource coordination, and a safe space to transition into permanent housing.