Reconcile New Orleans, Inc. transforms the lives of young adults and the community through the ministry of reconciliation. They do this by: encouraging personal growth, providing workforce development and training, promoting entrepreneurship, and working with businesses, nonprofits, and people of faith to support this transformation.

Founded in 1996 by board member Craig Cuccia and the late Fr. Harry Tompson, SJ, Reconcile New Orleans, Inc. works to resolve the deeply ingrained social ills of poverty, prejudice, and fear by providing disconnected youth with the skills and confidence necessary to get and retain career-track jobs in New Orleans’ thriving hospitality sector. Established in 2000 in an empty warehouse on a blighted block, Café Reconcile (now in its twelfth year) has become a cornerstone of economic development for the youth they serve and the distressed O.C. Haley Corridor of Central City, which has been identified by Mayor Landrieu as a priority investment zone.

They live out their mission in their commitment to fighting the system of generational poverty, violence and neglect in the New Orleans area. Their innovative Hospitality Training Program assists young people (ages 16-22) from severely at-risk communities who desire to make positive changes in their lives. Café Reconcile, their neighborhood restaurant, provides the primary training platform for students seeking to acquire skills and employment in the hospitality service industry. Since the program’s launch in 2000, Reconcile has helped over 900 young people find career-track employment in New Orleans’ thriving hospitality industry, putting them on a path to stability and success for themselves and their families.

Reconcile’s Hospitality Training Program was one of the first of its kind in the country. Their program integrates  four essential types of training:  (1) Life Skills (three weeks), utilizing the proven 21st Century Success Principles curriculum; (2) hands-on Hospitality Industry Training (five weeks) in our neighborhood café; (3) Internship/Job Placement (four weeks), placing students full-time with a local hospitality employer, where they refine their skills and showcase their positive attitude; and (4) Job  Placement and Retention Support (twelve months), includes 12 month outcomes tracking of all graduates during which case managers work with graduates and employer partners to set positive conditions for long term workplace success. 

Reconcile’s unique program model and highly-regarded menu have brought their training program and their restaurant much favorable press in local and national media and among food critics and travel writers. Over the years, they have received more than 300 inquiries from organizations around the country seeking to replicate Reconcile’s success. Their innovative approach has been featured nationally on: ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS, the Travel Channel, and the Cooking Channel. Most recently, Reconcile has been featured in The New Orleans Tribune, The Times-Picayune, The Huffington Post, and on MSNBC.

R. Glen Armantrout, CEO of Reconcile New Orleans, Inc. approached Culinary Software Services to help advance key areas of Café Reconcile operations. As a recipient of the ChefTec Fund, they will utilize ChefTec Plus to reduce costs and increase profits, improve proficiency in catering events management, and provide advanced tracking of purchases and sales. The capability to present preparation and training videos along with providing nutritional values will be an invaluable educational tool.

R. Glen Armantrout
Chief Executive Officer
Reconcile New Orleans
1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
New Orleans, LA  70113-1310
504-568-1157