Professional Services in Metairie

Staffers at Emerald Cleaners delicately cleanse and deodorize all manner of clothing, preventing fragile apparel from bleeding out in washers or shrinking in dryers. They ensure shirts come back crisp with a fresh starching and exorcise suits and dresses of unsightly stains spawned from spilling a beverage or tickling a squid.

Crescent City Farmers Market operates markets in three locations, attracting more than 120,000 shoppers each year. Along with locally grown produce, market vendors sell freshly baked goods, cut flowers, farm-raised meat, and wild-caught Louisiana seafood.

The market also conducts community programming such as the Marketeer Club, which engages kids in fun activities to encourage good eating habits and a positive, healthy relationship with food starting at a young age. Other projects include the farmers' market bingo and Meet Me at the Market, which provides opportunities for seniors to socialize and gain access to fresh, nutritious food.

Global Green USA, the American affiliate of Green Cross International, works to foster a global shift toward a more sustainable future by advocating for green building projects and jobs in addition to other climate solutions. Through its community-based projects, such as NOLA Wise, Global Green helps implement environmental policy, educate hundreds of millions of people annually, and leverage billions of dollars for environmental initiatives. Currently, one of the organization's main initiatives is helping public agencies and developers of public housing create sustainable neighborhoods with LEED standards, hoping to rebuild the damaged areas of New Orleans with the environment in mind.

For more than 29 years, NO/AIDS Task Force, a United Way Partner agency, has worked to reduce the spread of HIV while protecting the rights and dignity of HIV-affected individuals. Working with the recognition that HIV/AIDS has physical, mental, emotional, and social complications, NO/AIDS assists its clients with a wide spectrum of outreach services at little to no cost, including a medical clinic, food pantry, and housing. Additionally, NO/AIDS offers free oral HIV-testing with state-certified counselors at a variety of sites in the greater New Orleans area.

Rather than teach you to navigate camera buttons and menus inside a stuffy studio, American Photo Safari takes students of all skill levels on an adventure where they learn to photograph while touring historic parts of New Orleans. As small groups stroll on foot through the French Quarter or past the Garden District's mansions and aboveground cemetery, local professional photographers teach students one-on-one how to capture stunning images using any type of camera. Sessions last 2.5 hours, though American Photo Safari also offers a 4-hour version of its French Quarter tour.

Shutterbug Michael Spangler, owner of Expressions Photography of Central, has been snapping photos professionally since 1986. His skills earned him stints as president of the Louisiana Professional Photographers Association and the Capital City Professional Photographers Guild. Today, he crafts portraits and senior photos both inside his studio and amid natural surroundings. His sophisticated, black-and-white portraits occasionally include pops of color to highlight a red car, a pink tutu, or a bad case of the blues. In his color photos, Michael runs the gamut between heavy saturation and subdued, desaturated hues to highlight his subject's dynamic poses.

While chronicling weddings, he draws on 26 years of experience as he alternates between traditional poses and candid shots. Michael also transforms sports photos into memorabilia such as custom composites, trading cards, and magnets. When he isn't capturing still images, he professionally records concerts and recitals on video.