At a meeting convened by Together Baton Rouge and the Baton Rouge Food Access Commission, TBR leaders announced a new limited-stop route to run Saturdays from 'food deserts' to grocery stores as a temporary measure to ensure access to healthy food. Asked Tamika Porter, "If there's such a thing as Whole Food, then what am I giving my children? Half food?"

Capital Area Transit System (CATS) CEO committed to providing the new Saturday bus route by June 2015. He also promised to re-evaluate every route to ensure that buses are stopping at at grocery stores where possible.

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Over 150 leaders from Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith assembled with three candidates for US Congressional District 5 including Republican incumbent Vance McAllister, Dr. Ralph Abraham and Mayor Jamie Mayo. Leaders succeeded in leveraging bipartisan agreement to work with the organization to:

- Expand Medicaid in Louisiana;

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Together Baton Rouge (TBR) leaders, in collaboration with the East Baton Rouge Food Policy Commission created last year by the Mayor with TBR, delivered five recommendations to a crowd of 80 residents working to end food deserts in East Baton Rouge. TBR leader Edgar Cage reported that, 17% of the parish population lives in areas with "unacceptably low access" to grocery stores -- while the national average hovers at 8%.

"There are many nurturing mothers who care what goes into our bodies and our children's bodies," said Tamika Mason Porter. "And we'll make sacrifices to do it." The real issue, she said, is getting access to those good food choices.

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Undeterred by the Louisiana legislature's reluctance to pass payday lending reform this year, Together Louisiana leaders turned their attention to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, taking over a hearing on mobile banking and pointing out the need for intervention on payday lending.

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'Together Louisiana' leaders publicly handed out Bibles to Louisiana state legislators, asking them to read it before voting on a payday lending reform bill which would cap the number of times an individual can turn over a loan. Said Rev. Lee T. Wesley of Baton Rouge, "We took notice that some legislators wanted to make the Bible the state book...if legislators want to give the Bible special standing, they should start off by reading it."

One of 45 lobbyists paid to kill Senate Bill 84 revealed he was feeling "like a bug smashed against a windshield" today.

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Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith leaders and clergy, joined by Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, gathered on the State Office Building lawn to garner the support of local senators. Said Rev. Aaron Dobynes of Evergreen Baptist Church, "We have gathered here to urge our senators, Sen. (Greg) Tarver and Sen. (Sherri) Buffington to support this bill that says we need to reduce the kind of criminal interest that's being paid by many of these persons that have to secure payday loans."

Interfaith Seeks Support for Payday Lending Reforms, Shreveport Times

One week after 400 people filled Elm Grove Baptist Church in a meeting about payday lending, 100 Together Louisiana leaders rallied on the front steps of the Capitol exhorting lawmakers to curb the most predatory practices in the payday lending industry. They were joined by lawmakers that pledged to fight for bills that would fulfill this goal.

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This legislative session, with the support of Together Louisiana, lawmakers will evaluate whether to pass a bill limiting how much payday lenders can make on the backs of their customers.

Ms. Thelma Fleming, a leader with Elm Grove Baptist Church, once spent $2,500 to get out of a $300 debt trap, eventually costing her her car, bank account and gifts from her children. Her institution is a member of Together Louisiana which is on the forefront of this legislative fight.

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After the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Jeremiah Group leaders found new focus as they heard stories about rent doubling and tripling in the recovering city. When leaders discovered that renters had been all but forgotten in the rebuilding process, they crafted a plan: "soft second mortgages" designed to help families with low incomes transform themselves from renters into buyers.

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