SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Applause erupted this week from a crowd of interfaith leaders in northern Louisiana as a commission voted to approve funding to create the first two of 20 lighthouses across northern Louisiana.
Lighthouses once guided ships lost at sea and were so important that the 9th Act of the first United States Congress created the Lighthouse Service in 1789. The flicker of a lighthouse could be seen from as far as 25 miles from the shore, but as time passed many of our nation’s historic lighthouses were abandoned and lost to time and neglect.
Now technology is bringing twenty new lighthouses to Shreveport. They’re just a new type of lighthouse, mind you. But they’re designed, much like historic lighthouses, to serve as beacons of hope for those who are lost in the darkness.
Louisiana citizens experience the constant threats of severe storms, hurricanes, heat waves, snow and ice storms, and flooding.
“Community Lighthouses will not only provide essential services but also foster a sense of unity and resilience within our neighborhoods,” said Pastor Theron Jackson of North Louisiana Interfaith, one of the leaders helping to drive the movement.
NLI is a coalition of congregations and organizations in northern Louisiana. The coalition deliberately crosses the lines of race, religion, neighborhood, and political affiliation. The organization is strictly non-partisan.
Solar lighthouses
$1 million: that’s how much it will cost for the first two Community Lighthouses to be completed. More than half the money is being provided by North Louisiana Interfaith, and Caddo Parish is adding $500,000, to bring 20 commercial-scale solar power and backup battery systems to Shreveport/Bossier congregations and institutions. Community Lighthouses will be installed by union electricians and provide an opportunity for them to develop skills in the growing use of solar and battery-powered systems.
Pastor Theron Jackson is a clergy leader with NLI; he said the approval of seed funding for the Community Lighthouse project is a significant milestone for our community.
Community Lighthouses will serve people who have critical needs during extended power outages. Lighthouse staff will assist by providing cooling and heating stations, food distribution, ice, water, charging stations, and other supplies during extended power outages.
AFL-CIO President, Clifton Starks, said the project goes a step further as a workforce development program that supports local, high-wage jobs and career development. Officials in northwest Louisiana also understand that during times of disaster in Louisiana, power outages are the leading cause of death.
Louisiana’s Public Service Commissioner, Foster Campbell, remembered the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, and the way power was knocked out to thousands in north Louisiana. Between the lack of electricity and the lack of drinking water, the sweltering heat, and the need to recharge cellphones, Laura was tough on all Louisianians—even those up north.
North Louisiana Interfaith developed the strategy to create 20 Community Lighthouses across Caddo Parish. And each of the 20 lighthouses in Caddo Parish will have staff that will be checking on people within 24 hours of any disaster.
Commissioner John-Paul Young, of District 4, noted that our water system in northwest Louisiana fails during extreme cold weather. It has happened twice in the past four years.
“It is wise to prepare for the types of emergencies that are likely to occur,” he said.
The 20 Community Lighthouse projects in Caddo Parish are part of a network of 86 Louisiana Community Lighthouses.
