Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana (ECSLA), a nonprofit service agency, has selected PR504 of Loyola University New Orleans to raise awareness and assist in the transitional merger with the Office of Disaster Response (ODR) and Episcopal Community Services (ECS).

ECSLA works to help all of those in need regardless of religious faith. Assistance is given by rebuilding homes, youth development, case management and community organizing. All of these programs are intended to provide sustainable support in the aftermath of Katrina.

“Our biggest goal now is branding. We need to discover who we are and where to go now. We are no longer simply the Office of Disaster Response,” said Nell Bolton, executive director of Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana. PR504 will build awareness of the unique nonprofit throughout the New Orleans area.

PR504 is a public relations campaign class in Loyola’s School of Mass Communication that faces the task of building awareness about ECSLA and maintaining the reputation of ODR for their senior capstone course. PR504 will author a public relations plan for ECSLA to establish the brand of the company and identify target audiences.

“PR504 admires the work put forth by ECSLA within the community and is working hard to create an efficient campaign that reflects their continued success,” said Dominique Webb, account executive of PR504 from New Orleans.

PR504 is completing its service learning component of PR campaigns by connecting the classroom to the community with ECSLA. The students will guide ECSLA through its transition phase until May of 2010. The agency is comprised of Dominique Webb, account executive, from Marrero, La.; Lourdes Fulton, assistant account executive from New Orleans; Beatriz Brugal, research director, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Mignon May from Bay St. Louis, Miss. and Constance Thompson from New York City, media relations team; Kelsey Jones from Deridder, La., and Samantha Weaver from San Rafael, Calif., logistics and sponsorship team; and agency adviser Professor Valerie Andrews.

For more information on ECSLA visit the nonprofit’s Web site http://ecsla.org/ or contact Bolton by calling (504) 895-6634.
PR504 is a public relations and communication agency created through the School of Mass Communication at Loyola University New Orleans.