Baton Rouge, La —Gary Chambers, candidate for Senator, District 15 was the speaker at the Pastors and Leaders Prayer Breakfast, hosted by Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks.
The event, which took place Wednesday morning at DC Eats. a local black owned business that opened a month ago on the corner of Harding Blvd. and Plank Road.
Using his experiences as a child growing up in north Baton Rouge as well as Bible verses to explain his zeal for change, Chambers begins with his the tale of his biological mother’s suicide and his biological father’s bout with alcoholism for ten years. Reared by his maternal aunt and her husband, he introduced the couple as his parents.
“North Baton Rouge is my home. I was born in this community, raised here, and started my journey here. As a 34 year old, I have dedicated the last several years of my life ringing the alarm on the issues our community faces. Because I grew up here, I remember when you didn’t have to drive miles to go to a decent grocery store. I remember when our community had equal access to healthcare. I could list five or six other I things I remember, but they all lead to one thing, our community has seen better days.’ says Chambers.
As publisher of the The Rouge Collection, Chambers has been a vocal activists to push for equal distribution of government funding, tax incentives, community reinvestment. He has a command presence at council meetings, spoken at the legislature, served on commissions, hosted town halls, assisted in crafting plans for change, protested in the streets, and has even been arrested while speaking up for the rights of people in this community.
Economic development has been his priority for the residents that live, work, and play in north Baton Rouge. Gary Chambers told the group that Senate District 15 has a lack of economic, home ownership, and above minimum wage job opportunities and that status has contributed to high crime.
Over several years, Chambers has strategized and advanced for development and applying resources to the right projects that will position Senate District 15 to compete in this market. During his speech, the Deante District 15 candidate, envisions north Baton Rouge to be an urban renaissance in the Deep South.
As a founding commissioner of North Baton Rouge NOW and a Board member of the Baton Rouge North Economic Development District, Chambers is ready to lead Senate District 15.
Pastors Fred Jeff Smith, Will Bates, Dale Flowers, Ronaldo Hardy, Errol K. Domingue assembled around the candidate and prayed over him.
“I’m always so grateful when people of different religions and backgrounds come together to pray.” Councilwoman Banks said. “It was a very wonderful way to start the day.”