Poverty is a reality for many individuals and families. But unless one has experienced poverty, it’s difficult to truly understand. Recognizing this, Entergy’s low-income initiatives team recently organized poverty simulations aimed at providing our employees with a firsthand understanding of the struggles faced by our customers living in our service area of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
During a special event held at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Entergy partnered with the American Indian College Fund, or AICF, to award a grant in support of higher education for Native American students. For the ninth consecutive year, our collaboration with the AICF has been instrumental in empowering Native American students, enabling them to pursue rewarding career paths and emerge as influential leaders within their communities.
n”Entergy’s assistance with my taxes was truly a blessing. The entire process, from arriving at the event to the completion, was incredibly smooth. Thanks to their support, I received a substantial tax refund that I couldn’t have managed on my own, and it didn’t cost me a penny.” –Entergy customer
Kenyon Webber, a senior lead nuclear engineer at Entergy, was recently recognized as one of six 2024 “Women in STEM” honorees by the American Heart Association. This award is a recognition of her outstanding commitment and impact in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, in New Orleans.
The United Way of Northern New Jersey invited Entergy’s Chair and CEO Drew Marsh to be a keynote panelist at the National ALICE Summit that was held last month in New Orleans. The summit focused on supporting Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed individuals. ALICE represents the growing number of families who earn a little more than the federal poverty level but still struggle to afford basic needs like food, housing, childcare transportation, health care and technology.
This month, 20 representatives from Entergy, alongside our invaluable community partners and customers, joined advocates in Washington, D.C. to participate in LIHEAP Action Day. This national event, organized by the National ϳԹ and Utility Affordability Coalition, serves as a platform to engage and educate policymakers about the critical importance of the federal Low Income Home ϳԹ Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.
Recently, Entergy employees came together to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in a series of events across our service areas to support our communities in need. With a shared commitment to giving back, our employees joined forces with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and Healthy and packed 200,000 meals that will be distributed to Louisiana families struggling with food insecurity. This collective effort not only allowed us to achieve our goal of assisting our customers, neighbors and families in need but also had a significant impact on addressing hunger in Louisiana.
Entergy recently spread some holiday cheer through our annual initiative called “Operation Secret Santa.” Lucky first-in-line customers at our Canal Street Customer Care Center got their bills paid through Santa and The Power to Care, which is part of our low-income bill assistance program.
This holiday season, Entergy employees helped spread cheer at The Times-Picayune Doll and Toy Fund annual gift giveaway in New Orleans. Celebrating its 128th year, the event donates toys to thousands of kids and families in need. Entergy has been one of the lead sponsors of this event since 2016.
For the second year in a row, Entergy participated in EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day, an industry-wide service day that we helped found to provide pro bono legal support for low-income, vulnerable community members in electric companies’ service areas. The event was launched in 2022 by the Pro Bono Institute in partnership with Entergy’s legal department and the Edison Electric Institute. The event serves to spotlight the need to increase access to justice by providing legal services to marginalized communities and promote in-house pro bono collaboration with law firms and legal services organizations.