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ACLU to Honor Don Hubbard
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A Promise to Keep: Profile
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Our Town

From her mother’s kitchen table to office space on Hayne, to Baton Rouge, then Laplace and now back in New Orleans East, one local businesswoman keeps pushing and pressing forward, investing her time, big money and years of know-how in her city because she had . . .
A Promise to Keep

As New Orleans continues to rebuild, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the lack of business interests and development in New Orleans East, which makes up 66 percent of the city’s physical land mass. In the midst of faltering promises of growth from city leaders and experts, entrepreneur Lisa Crinel decided to invest heavily, not only in her city, but in its people.

She had done it before, operating a home health care business called Innovations on Hayne Boulevard. But after Hurricane Katrina hit, Crinel moved her business to Baton Rouge, then to LaPlace. Yet, with each move, she promised employees that she would one day bring the business back home to New Orleans.

In late 2010, Crinel spent about $750,000 to buy and renovate a 5,000-square-foot office property which sits only a few brisk turns from the Morrison Road exit. From this space, she owns and operates Abide Home Care Services. Adjacent to the home health care building is another building called LACE (Lisa A. Crinel Enterprises) The Grand Ballroom—a top-notch reception facility that boasts a menu, décor and service to rival any downtown hotel.

With a 16-year record of success, the businesswoman says she has no misgivings about making such a large investment in New Orleans East because returning was the only way she could make good on her promise.

She is aware of the role she plays in the community and does not take it lightly.

There’s a slim chance that Crinel will slow down anytime soon. She’s even in contemplating broadening her investment by turning another adjacent building into an urgent care facility.

Former New Orleans City Councilman-at-large Oliver Thomas, who now serves as director of outreach for Abide, calls Crinel a visionary. Who’s a better candidate to deliver, he says “than a person that feels so good about the people of New Orleans that she was willing to bet a million dollars on them.”

An African-American businesswoman, divorcee, and single mother, Crinel is a valuable model for a city in need of examples of influential, successful business owners, especially in a part of the city that thirsts for business vitality.

“God could’ve selected anybody to do what I do; and I don’t take it for granted,” she says.