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There is no denying the deep void felt across the city of Baton Rouge following the passing of Davis Rhorer. Davis was an instrumental partner to the Walls organization from Day One, beginning with the launch of the BR Walls Project Kickstarter Campaign at a monthly Downtown Development District meeting in 2012. Davis served as a member of the inaugural artist selection jury that met in City Plaza II to review hundreds of artist submissions from across the country. By June, the first brushstroke of paint hit the wall of the McGlynn, Glisson & Mouton law firm on Florida Blvd, and the rest is mural history. Headquartered in the heart of Downtown for nearly a decade now, The Walls Project has created countless murals and building installations across the Downtown landscape. The culturally rich outdoor experience we have helped curate would not have been possible without the support of Gabe, Casey, Whitney, Mary, and, of course, Davis. "Davis, I will miss seeing you on morning walks along the levee or sitting down together for impromptu meetings at one of the many coffee shops you helped bring to Downtown. Your support and creative placemaking guidance were instrumental to the success of the Walls. Your smile stretched as far and wide as your impact on the community. Your legacy of service will not only be remembered but carried forward by the next generation of visionary leaders. Rest in peace and power, sir.” Casey Phillips (Executive Director) Picture by Philip Gould of Walls Project #10 ‘Blues Harp’ unveiling by artist Robert Dafford sponsored by Raising Cane’s and the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino Picture by Sean Richardson of Walls Mural #23 ‘On The Shoulders of Giants' by artist Eduardo Mendieta sponsored by Solutions Through Science & the Mentorship Academy Mural #41 by Marc Fresh, sponsored by City of Baton Rouge : Photo by Mark Bienvenu

For Chicago-based artist Faheem Majeed, art and activism go hand-in-hand. Majeed’s broad spectrum of creative work blends a number of artistic mediums such as sculpture and architecture with community activism, encouraging civic engagement in communities beleaguered by disinvestment and systemic inequality. Integrating the arts into community healing is not a new concept, but following a difficult year only worsened by the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the arts and utilizing creativity to strengthen local communities is more important than ever. Thanks to a $100,000 National Endowment for the Arts Grant awarded to the Walls Project earlier in 2020, Majeed will join the Baton Roots Community Farm in collaboration with LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio and School of Landscape Architecture faculty and students to develop a master plan for the community farm’s expansion. While planning is still an ongoing stage of the collaboration, Majeed ultimately hopes to create something that positively impacts the community. Majeed states, “I really want to build and understand community efforts and not just put my stamp on something. I want to give people something that highlights the history of [their] surrounding areas.” While he notes the importance of reinforcing what’s already been done by changemakers in the community, his perspective and expertise will be a welcome addition to the Baton Rouge community. North Baton Rouge, where the community farm is located, has been especially hard hit as COVID-19 has only exacerbated food insecurity, systemic poverty, and stark racial disparities that have long plagued the Greater Baton Rouge Area. Baton Roots works diligently to provide opportunities for growth through skill sharing, health education, and larger conversations surrounding strengthening and healing our community. Majeed will lead discussions with members of the Baton Rouge community, local artists, and LSU students to develop ways to integrate art into the North Baton Rouge area.

With the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and an unexpected hard freeze to boot, spring has looked a little different this year in the Baton Rouge area. Despite these challenges, Baton Roots has continued to flourish as we approach peak growing season in Louisiana. In early February, Baton Roots and the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority began a joint effort to establish 84 raised beds at EBRHA sites across the city. As of today, beds have been built out at six of the eleven sites cited for installation. Produce grown at each site is available to residents of the affordable housing communities, providing access to nutritious food in areas designated as “food deserts”. Following the deep freeze across the city, Baton Roots also partnered with Top Box Foods Louisiana to offer locally grown greens at the Healthy Corner Store Collaborative. In March, Baton Roots partnered with the Volunteer Youth Corps of Baton Rouge for “The Butterfly Effect” YVC Day, instilling the importance of community gardens in young volunteers who in turn helped fill garden beds with river silt and compost for the Turner Plaza housing complex. Continuing through the month, Hustle & Grow students at our Capitol High and Glen Oaks satellite farms practiced fresh food preparation skills like washing, processing, and packing produce bags of carrots, beets, and bib lettuce to donate to partners...and naturally did a few taste tests of the veggies themselves! With continued support from organizations including the Rotary Club, NEA Our Town, BRAF, Healthy Blue, Cox Communications, Sprouts Neighborhood, and Aetna/CVS, Baton Roots and Hustle & Grow remain a vital asset to combating food insecurity in our neighborhoods. Want to get involved? Volunteers are essential to the growth of each Baton Roots site. You can volunteer with us today at batonrootsvolunteer.paperform.co/

As an unexpectedly cold winter season winds down in Louisiana, The Futures Fund is ramping up for an exciting spring! Beginning March 11, The Futures Fund hosted the first virtual Coding Boot Camp class of the season with Level 1, 2, and 3 trainees fully present. Amongst the newest trainees in attendance was hairdresser Sharon B. Over the last year the cosmetology industry has faced severe cutbacks due to COVID-19, and Sharon saw the opportunity to learn coding as a great blessing to advance her career. "I was so excited to make it in [Coding Boot Camp]…A lot of other programs that teach code are priced out of reach, and I know this opportunity doesn't come often." Sharon isn't alone in wanting to make changes. From the entertainment industry to those working jobs where upward mobility has stalled at their current skill level, trainees of all backgrounds have the chance for significant skill growth through the Coding Boot Camp. The momentum will continue as we head deeper into the spring with Level 3 trainees working towards industry-specific professional development through IBM's Open P-Tech and SkillsBuild platforms, supported in part by BRCC. Follow along at www.thewallsproject.org/futuresfund to stay up to date with the impressive work our students are doing!

After a brief but dreary winter season, spring is finally in the air in Baton Rouge. The blooming azaleas and warming temperatures mark the advent of the growing season for local farmers and gardeners. At the Baton Roots community farm, farmers are experiencing a different kind of growth: over the last year, Baton Roots has more than doubled its footprint, expanding to its full 4 acres at BREC Howell Park and establishing satellite sites at Capitol High, Glen Oaks High, and Scotlandville High School thanks in part to support from community partners including a $10,000 donation from AETNA. Ever since the first community garden was established in North Baton Rouge in January 2019, Baton Roots has provided invaluable programming and fresh produce to those in need of healthy food. With the help of partners like AETNA, Baton Roots can continue to expand its programs such as Hustle & Grow, a training program that connects youth to workforce development in agriculture, and the Harmony Intergenerational Garden, a space that connects all generations through growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Such programs not only provide fresh, healthy food to an area that falls under the designation of a “food desert”, but also provides opportunities to connect with the community and combat the social isolation caused by the spread of COVID-19. Thank you to AETNA for supporting this vital community asset!

Ever since the first community garden in north Baton Rouge launched in January 2019, Baton Roots has provided programming and fresh produce to those in need of healthy food. After receiving a $7,500 grant from The Rotary Club in Baton Rouge, the community farm will continue its efforts to bridge the gap between healthy food and disenfranchised communities in Baton Rouge, specifically ones in the 70805, 70807, 70811, 70812, and 70802 zip codes. For several years, part of the North Baton Rouge community has been designated a “food desert,” and the coronavirus pandemic has made the situation worse. In East Baton Rouge Parish, 17% of the population lives in an area of low access to a grocery store. The national average is 8%. The Walls Project has since taken steps to wrangle the issue by creating the now four-acre community farm on Winbourne Avenue at Howell Park. Some of the farm’s programs include Hustle & Grow, a training program that connects youth to workforce development in agriculture, and the Harmony Garden, a space that welcomes all ages, from elementary students to the elderly, to a community space to learn and grow. In addition to the Rotary Club, other organizations have committed to supporting Baton Roots, including NEA Our Town, BRAF, Healthy Blue, Cox Communications, and Sprouts Neighborhood, and Aetna/CVS. The community farm works closely with Mayor-President Broome’s HealthyBR initiative, LSU Ag, Southern Ag, Louisiana 4-H, and BR Green where expert knowledge is shared and the community gives input on the project. Want to find out how to support The Walls Project? Consider sending a donation, or get involved by signing for one of our events. More News From The Walls Project Wilson Foundation Continues to Grow Baton Roots Microsoft Grants $300,000 Towards the Collaboration of DBEs in Baton Rouge The Advocate: 11 New Baton Roots sites Coming to EBRPHA Capital One Supports Veterans To Attend Coding Boot Camp

With the shift to virtual due to the pandemic, technology has become a necessary component of everyday life. Unfortunately, most teens are not taught the ends and outs of the various programs they are asked to use. As technology continues to move at a lightning pace, engraining itself even further into our way of doing things, the digital-divide becomes even greater. To understand why bridging this gap is so critical, we can look to the national pandemic as a magnifying light to the problem: more and more jobs are reliant on technology to run efficiently and to interact with the public. If youth are coming out of high school only as technology consumers, this industry will continue to grow while shutting out a large portion of the new workforce. Representation is critical in the tech industry. The United States is becoming more diverse, but currently, those in the tech world are not following suit. While these jobs are continuing to scale in income, the individuals representing the populations working there are mainly white, educated males. Without diversity, innovation becomes stagnant and can only serve the mindsets of those who build the products. With a diverse team in play, other perspectives and needs will be brought up, helping bridge the access gaps that consistently remain undiscussed and unaddressed. The Futures Fund Tech Academy program is a bridge for students in high school unable to afford access to tech. Traditional coding boot camps are fast-paced and often out of the price point of many families. The Futures Fund creates an ecosystem where grant dollars are able to cover most, if not all, of the tuition of the three-level program. Trainees attending will receive hard skills of learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but also soft skills of public speaking, project management, teamwork, and collaboration. When youth graduate from Tech Academy, the pipeline continues with the Mentorship program, a component of training where self-development and leadership styles are taught so that peers can mentor new Trainees entering the program. Mentors are able to help support two mentees in their journey through the program while working on their own styles of management and motivation. To join Tech Academy, you can apply here: futuresfund.paperform.co

The Futures Fund Coding Bootcamp is getting bigger and better. With the help of a charitable donation of $1,500 from BancorpSouth, The Walls Project plans to continue expanding and increasing access to the Coding Bootcamp for adults, out-of-school youth, and veterans. BancorpSouth is a bank holding company that serves its community through investment, charitable giving, and volunteer service. The Mississippi-based company focuses its philanthropic efforts primarily on affordable housing, economic development, financial education, neighborhood revitalization, and community service. In January 2021, BancorpSouth granted $1,500 to the Futures Fund Coding Bootcamp to help expand the program, digitize coding courses, strengthen participants’ resumes, increase access to higher education, connect skilled workers to employers for technology positions and help low-income or unemployed participants get higher wage-earning opportunities. Historically, Futures Fund participants have included middle and high school students that are 89% African-American, 98% low-to-moderate income, and 58 % female. Through Futures Fund Coding Bootcamp, The Walls Project has expanded course offerings to include coding classes for adult workers displaced by COVID-19, military veterans, and out-of-school youth. By increasing program accessibility, The Walls Project aims to help Louisiana rebound from the recent economic shocks caused by the pandemic. Find more information about BancorpSouth at bancorpsouth.com.

More than 80 gardening plots coming to affordable housing families, bringing fresh produce, new skills via The Advocate By Ellyn Couvillion By early spring, cabbage, lettuce, mustard greens and more will be growing in new, raised vegetable beds — 84 in all — at communities of the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority. The effort is aimed at providing fresh produce and marketable skills to residents "that will last a lifetime," said J. Wesley Daniels, chief executive director of the housing authority. The new vegetable beds will be put in at 11 affordable housing communities located throughout the city, where working families live while planning to move out of assisted living. The effort is a joint project of the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority and an endeavor called the Baton Roots Community Farm. The community farm is located inside the BREC Howell Park and provides fresh-grown produce to agencies serving the needy and to residents who live in areas without supermarkets. A portion of the farm is also open to the public for harvesting, said Helena Williams, director of operations and communications for the Walls Project, a nonprofit organization that partnered with Mayor Sharon West Broome's HealthyBR initiative to create the Baton Roots Community Farm. One goal of the project to bring gardening to low income housing families is to "demystify" growing one's own vegetables, Williams said. The 84 raised vegetable beds will range in number from four to 12 at each of the affordable housing communities, depending on the number of residents and available space. The beds will be put in during February and March, and will be filled with young plants that Baton Roots raises from seed in a greenhouse at Southern University, Williams said. Staff from the Baton Roots Community Farm — which harvested and gave away more than 12,000 pounds of food in 2020 — will be on hand weekly to help families, from the youngsters to the senior members, learn about raising, harvesting and cooking the crops to enjoy at their dinner tables. "It will truly be an intergenerational effort for our families," said Daniels.

There are hundreds of organizations asking for your donation today, why choose Walls? Collective Impact. When you give to the Walls Project you are contributing to a collaborative organization of 100+ dedicated creatives working year-round with hundreds of other nonprofits, schools, and churches with mirror missions to improve the community. Results matter. Since 2012 Walls Project and our partners have leveraged local philanthropic and national grants to achieves these outcomes: Generated over $3,000,000 for creative and technology industry professionals Trained 2000 underserved teens in computer coding and digital arts Launched technology training for adults and veterans unemployed due to Covid Expanded our community farm to full capacity at BREC Howell Park and added three satellite sites at EBR schools to fight food insecurity Reactivated over 7 miles of blighted corridors by harnessing 45,000+ volunteer hours to clear 180 tons of trash from streets and vacant lots in Mid City & North BR Transformed 125 buildings with monumental murals and sculptural installations Contribute and Engage. Walls needs your help to reach our goal and your gift matters! This is the first coordinated effort in the Baton Rouge region with foundations and corporations adding significant incentives to match community donor participation. Donate before midnight to multiply your impact, and message us to get engaged in the weekly coalition meetings addressing equitable access to education, fresh food, and wrap-around services for the working poor. #OneRouge Coalition. With COVID causing the world to work online, The Walls Project was able to embrace this perceived setback to instigate community-wide meetings to align passions and work. Every Friday morning at 8:30 for the past 36 weeks the EBR Community Check-in has become a hub for collaboration. Now more than ever we must continue to work together – publicly, privately, and philanthropically – to initiate a copasetic future for our region. Building on this momentum, we have expanded to launching the Food Insecurity Coalition (EBR) with the Capital Area United Way, as well as our pre-COVID collaborative campaign #ONEROUGE, elevating practitioners who are working tirelessly to reduce the barriers out of poverty. Huge thanks to the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, Capital Area United Way, and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation for coming together to create the 225 Gives platform on #GivingTuesday. Read through the full December 2020 Newsletter here! Sincerely, Casey Phillips Executive Director The Walls Project

Join us from 10 AM to 12 PM on December 5, 2020, as Futures Fund Tech Academy trainees showcase their skills gained over the fall semester at the end of course capstone! Coding trainees will demonstrate the skills they have learned through demos, and photography trainees will share a virtual photo tour. There will be live DJs and virtual guests during the showcase. The spread of COVID-19 over the past year has made learning virtually the safest way, but it can become tedious if not made dynamic. This semester, in addition to the training time, we offered skill-building games and guest speakers and performances to rally the youth to keep engaged throughout the Saturday session. Trainees participated in 60 hours of training in computer programming skills including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Trainees also learned essential skills such as web development, project management, and client relations to position them for higher-paying technology jobs. We hope to see you (virtually!) December 5th as we hear from four Resource Speakers, enjoy presentations from all three curriculum levels as well as breakout showcases, and of course some wonderful live music! Please email admin@thefuturesfund.org if you would like to receive an invite link. Many thanks to our many supporters who make the Futures Fund Tech Academy possible, including New Schools for Baton Rouge, Capital Area United Way, United Way DFW, State Farm, American Advertising Federation, BASF, Upward Bound, and LOSFA. Hats off to our Fall 2020 students!

The Futures Fund Adult Boot Camp received $26,000 from Capital One in November, expanding Future Fund’s reach to the Baton Rouge community through career development in the Information Technology industry. The next cohort for the adult boot camp is expected to start on January 7, 2021. As Louisiana's economy readjusts to life with COVID-19, The Walls Project has responded by expanding its successful Futures Fund Tech Academy program to help position unemployed low-to-moderate income adults, military veterans, and out-of-school youth for high demand and highly desirable technology jobs. Investment from Capital One will help The Walls Project increase the training’s accessibility. This would involve adding more training sites and administering FF’s “Coding for the Web” course virtually. Also, the Capital One funding will help The Walls Project strengthen students’ resumes, connect them to potential employers, and increase access to higher education. The grant will assist in serving 100 students in the adult training portion and 400 students in the whole Futures Fund program. Adults who enroll in the course will undergo 120 hours of training in computer programming skills such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as web development, project management, client relations. In 2014, FF began its mission of breaking the cycle of economic despair plaguing low-income teens and young adults in Baton Rouge. FF has since served thousands of students by providing workforce development and tech-based programming. The Futures Fund Tech Academy delivered technology and skills development courses for middle and high school students. Many of these students would otherwise not have access to these learning opportunities. Designed to effectively engage with targeted populations, FF programming fosters a culture of youth empowerment, social justice, and individual voice. To date, FF student populations have been 89% African American, 98% low-to-moderate-income, and 58% female, which are underrepresented populations in the technology field. The Future Fund is one of several programs under The Walls Project programming umbrella that works to tear down the societal walls that prevent people from living safe, healthy, and prosperous lives. Walls pursues areas of need in the Baton Rouge community and has contributed over $2 million in economic growth to Louisiana’s capital region.