"The biggest local election forum of this political season was nothing like the candidates are used to. Together Baton Rouge hosted 30 of the 32 candidates for East Baton Rouge Mayor-president and Metro Council Monday night, with approximately 500 people in attendance at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church.

But they did not show up in order to listen to the candidates. 'What we're pushing for,' said Dr. Jeanne George, a Together Baton Rouge committee co-chair, 'is to get them to listen to the citizens.'"

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Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith Sponsoring Committee leaders Reverend John Henson (left) and Father Rothell Price (right) led a celebration of the passage of their "'Minimal Living Standards Amendment,' which now requires landlords to provide a modicum of upkeep on the property they rent out."

Leaders also leveraged commitments from their council members to to visit their labor market intermediary, NOVA, in Monroe.

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"The Capital Area Transit System received an 'A' on its first public accountability report card for meeting expectations tied to the passage of the 10.6-mill property tax in April.

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"Scotlandville has no shortage of convenience stores, but a true grocery store is hard to come by for this community of about 18,000 residents, according to Census data. And about 89 percent of these people live a mile or more from a true supermarket, said Edgar Cage, a member of St. Michael's and Together Baton Rouge, which has taken on the task of leading initiatives to make healthy foods more accessible to neighborhoods plagued by "food deserts" — whole communities where a grocery store is absent. "Scotlandville is the largest food desert in Baton Rouge," Cage said."

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"On Saturday, April 21st, 2012, the citizens of Baton Rouge and Baker passed a historic election to create a dedicated revenue source for public transit....This was a truly historic feat -- one that many thought could not be accomplished and that succeeded despite great odds. So we want to take a moment to reflect on how this effort succeeded where so many others have failed.

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Triumph of a proposition for funding public transit follows a 15-month constituency building campaign that brought together diverse institutions from across the city. Local leaders focused on neighborhood issues and organized a 1,000 person assembly to launch a month long effort to Get Out the Vote.

In photo, Diana Dorroh and Deborah Quinn of Together Baton Rouge team up Saturday morning to walk Baton Rouge neighborhoods and encourage voters to cast their ballot in support of CATS.

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"A wheelchair-using retired U.S. Air Force captain who travels to the hospital by bus three times a week.

A New York transplant who hoped to get to her job without having to purchase a vehicle.

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The Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith Sponsoring Committee leveraged an additional $300 thousand in order to expand workforce development project New Opportunities, Vision, Achievement (NOVA) into three rural regions of the Louisiana Delta. $150 thousand came from the federally established Delta Regional Authority and required approval from Republican Governor Jindal. Another $150 thousand came from a private foundation. NOVA enrollees typically start out earning below minimum wage; graduates earn more than double that within one year of completion.

"Perhaps because it was held in a church, or because so many clergy and faithful were in the hall, a recent Together Baton Rouge luncheon saw at least a minor miracle: Political leaders were made to pay attention to the concerns of poor people.

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"Better wages, improved schools, grocery stores in northern neighborhoods and local tax revenue dedicated to mass transit are among the goals Together Baton Rouge plans to work toward in 2012, leaders of the church and nonprofit coalition announced Tuesday. 'We're here to celebrate the accomplishments of 2011, and they are considerable,' the Rev. Melvin Rushing, pastor of Progressive Baptist Church and Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, told hundreds of supporters."

Coalition Sets 2012 Goals, The Advocate