WEBVTT 00:00.133 --> 00:02.035 Support for a Louisiana. 00:02.035 --> 00:05.038 The state we're in is provided by. 00:05.071 --> 00:07.507 Every day I go to work for Entergy. 00:07.507 --> 00:09.242 I know customers are counting on me. 00:09.242 --> 00:12.779 So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on 00:12.879 --> 00:16.750 and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen. 00:16.850 --> 00:18.651 Together, together. Together. 00:18.651 --> 00:23.651 We power life. 00:30.630 --> 00:33.366 Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth 00:33.366 --> 00:37.871 Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall. 00:37.937 --> 00:42.008 The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical 00:42.008 --> 00:45.779 and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana 00:45.845 --> 00:49.482 and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. 00:49.549 --> 00:54.549 With support from viewers like you 01:03.163 --> 01:08.163 and it is absolutely health in crisis. 01:09.302 --> 01:13.673 I mean, we're going to have people living in cars, living with friends, 01:13.740 --> 01:17.243 living underneath bridges unless we figure out how to fix it. 01:17.310 --> 01:21.047 The home construction industry warns of a housing crisis. 01:21.147 --> 01:22.615 We want to make sure that we have 01:22.615 --> 01:26.920 two legitimate seats within legitimate opportunities. 01:26.986 --> 01:31.424 Louisiana's congressional map under a deadline from redrawn districts. 01:31.524 --> 01:35.361 I support whatever he does because he's been such an amazing governor 01:35.462 --> 01:36.996 for our state during this time. 01:36.996 --> 01:40.800 A legacy chat with First Lady Donna Edwards. 01:40.867 --> 01:41.434 Hi, everyone. 01:41.434 --> 01:43.870 I'm passing here. And I'm Karen LeBlanc. 01:43.870 --> 01:47.807 Louisiana makes a major step in closing the digital divide 01:47.807 --> 01:52.245 With access to more than $1.3 billion in federal funding, 01:52.345 --> 01:56.850 the broadband equity access and deployment program, known as Bead, ensures 01:56.850 --> 02:01.850 that every citizen has affordable, reliable, high speed broadband access. 02:01.988 --> 02:05.492 Louisiana is the first state authorized by the Biden administration 02:05.492 --> 02:08.962 to request access to federal funding from beeD, a cornerstone 02:08.962 --> 02:12.232 of the Biden-Harris administration's Internet for All initiative. 02:12.332 --> 02:17.070 The Beat program is $42.45 billion state grant program 02:17.137 --> 02:21.641 authorized by President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law. 02:21.708 --> 02:23.643 Rising homeowners insurance 02:23.643 --> 02:26.980 premiums, mortgage rates, and construction cost 02:27.046 --> 02:31.351 have created the perfect storm for new home construction. 02:31.417 --> 02:34.020 Homebuilders across Louisiana are competing 02:34.020 --> 02:37.490 for fewer customers, especially first time homebuyers. 02:37.490 --> 02:41.394 As market forces upset the supply and demand, 02:41.461 --> 02:45.798 homebuilders are warning of a housing crisis ahead. 02:45.899 --> 02:47.100 In Wagman, 02:47.100 --> 02:49.936 a bedroom community in Jefferson Parish, 02:49.936 --> 02:52.772 new neighborhoods are under construction. 02:52.772 --> 02:57.744 The tough sell here and throughout Louisiana is not the selling price. 02:57.810 --> 02:59.913 It's the cost of ownership. 02:59.913 --> 03:04.617 When factoring in homeowners insurance and in some cases, flood insurance. 03:04.684 --> 03:08.588 The mortgage plus SRO is pricing many people, 03:08.588 --> 03:12.625 especially first time homeowners, out of the market. 03:12.692 --> 03:14.093 I think the general trend that 03:14.093 --> 03:17.830 you will see is that there is a slowdown in construction. 03:17.931 --> 03:21.534 And part of that is because of the costs 03:21.534 --> 03:24.938 and the affordability, because of the increase in mortgage rates. 03:25.004 --> 03:28.208 Dan Mills is the chief executive officer of the Home 03:28.208 --> 03:31.411 Builders Association of Greater New Orleans. 03:31.477 --> 03:33.479 We're having some challenges. 03:33.479 --> 03:37.050 The Home Builders Association is focused on the American dream, 03:37.050 --> 03:42.050 trying to get people into the homes and affordability 03:42.121 --> 03:47.121 and our market has been a real challenge, compounded by 03:47.493 --> 03:48.661 significant issues 03:48.661 --> 03:51.831 with insurance as well as supply chain issues. 03:51.831 --> 03:53.433 In the wake of the pandemic. 03:53.433 --> 03:55.535 We're seeing fewer people move out of their homes 03:55.535 --> 03:59.505 and thus we have less homes on the market available. 03:59.606 --> 04:04.110 So that confluence of of aspects is is 04:04.177 --> 04:08.147 suppressing an expansion in home development right now. 04:08.248 --> 04:11.618 We got a 30% increase in cost 04:11.684 --> 04:15.989 in a year and a half, 30%, 30%. 04:16.055 --> 04:20.159 And the unfortunate thing is, once they get there, they very rarely 04:20.159 --> 04:21.527 come back down. 04:21.527 --> 04:25.398 Randy Noel served as chairman of the National Association of 04:25.398 --> 04:28.167 Homebuilders in 2018. 04:28.167 --> 04:31.638 While we're building great new homes, resilient, 04:31.738 --> 04:36.409 withstand disasters for the area, they're being built in energy efficient, 04:36.509 --> 04:40.179 much more energy efficient than we've ever built before, 04:40.246 --> 04:42.749 lowering their utility bills. 04:42.749 --> 04:45.318 We still got half of America can't afford to buy 04:45.318 --> 04:49.022 one of those new homes, much less a first time homebuyer. 04:49.055 --> 04:53.459 Well, and we used to build in America 04:53.526 --> 04:55.495 800,000 houses a year for 04:55.495 --> 04:59.699 first time homebuyers back in 1789. 04:59.766 --> 05:02.201 We're down to under 100,000. 05:02.201 --> 05:06.706 It's just that bad. 05:06.806 --> 05:09.242 The housing crisis, fueled in part 05:09.242 --> 05:14.080 by rising insurance rates, is literally leaving people without shelter. 05:14.113 --> 05:15.782 Here's what's happening. 05:15.782 --> 05:20.253 So you are a first time homebuyer and you can't afford to purchase a new home. 05:20.320 --> 05:21.454 You rent. 05:21.454 --> 05:25.124 But rent is rising because insurance rates for multivan 05:25.124 --> 05:30.124 only housing is skyrocketing to being passed on to the renter. 05:31.397 --> 05:33.533 It is absolutely a housing crisis. 05:33.533 --> 05:37.904 I mean, we're going to have people living in cars, living with friends, 05:38.004 --> 05:41.908 living underneath bridges unless we figure out how to fix this. 05:41.974 --> 05:45.912 The Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 05:45.912 --> 05:50.283 for November 2023 shows that the shelter index 05:50.283 --> 05:54.487 increased 6.5% over last year. 05:54.554 --> 05:58.624 This year, Louisiana adopted more stringent building codes 05:58.891 --> 06:02.261 in an effort to curb rising homeowners insurance rates 06:02.328 --> 06:06.499 and entice more insurance companies to write policies. 06:06.599 --> 06:09.001 And those codes represent 06:09.001 --> 06:12.171 the most stringent building codes on the Gulf Coast today. 06:12.271 --> 06:15.875 So they address one of the major issues that came up during 06:15.942 --> 06:20.880 and that is preventing water inflow when shingles are removed from a roof, 06:20.947 --> 06:23.950 a fortified roof that prevents water intrusion 06:23.950 --> 06:27.453 is now code on new home construction. 06:27.520 --> 06:30.223 Insurance companies provide a rate break 06:30.223 --> 06:34.193 for a home with a fortified roof for existing homes. 06:34.193 --> 06:37.730 A grant program is available to help homeowners defray 06:37.730 --> 06:42.730 the cost of retrofitting their roof to fortified standards or code roofs. 06:43.202 --> 06:46.472 In the state of Louisiana don't last ten years, 06:46.539 --> 06:50.276 even though the 30 year warranty on them, they they they aggregate 06:50.276 --> 06:53.946 so fast in a climate that after ten years, 06:54.013 --> 06:58.050 they're not strong enough to withstand the heavy winds we got in the storm. 06:58.117 --> 07:01.220 The insurance companies are starting to send out letters 07:01.220 --> 07:03.556 to ask about the age of your roof because they know 07:03.556 --> 07:07.393 if your roof is more than five years old, it is not fortified. 07:07.493 --> 07:09.328 So you're going 07:09.328 --> 07:12.999 to have the option of fortifying it from the top side by replacing your roof. 07:13.065 --> 07:16.636 If your roof's only 3 to 5 years old, you probably don't want to do that. 07:16.736 --> 07:19.906 So it is possible to come from the underside the attic side 07:20.106 --> 07:23.409 with a special type of spray foam and steel, again 07:23.409 --> 07:27.547 around every sheet of plywood clothes to sell polyurethane. 07:27.547 --> 07:31.584 Spray foam works to seal a roof from water intrusion 07:31.651 --> 07:35.922 and secure it up to the standard of the fortified roof code. 07:36.022 --> 07:38.191 And one of the certified fortified contractors 07:38.191 --> 07:41.727 with a grant program for the part of M insurance adds, 07:41.794 --> 07:44.564 We're finding that is much less 07:44.564 --> 07:47.567 costly than taking the roof off and redoing it. 07:47.567 --> 07:52.567 So if we can watertight that deck, we can prevent those damages and mitigate 07:52.905 --> 07:54.240 the costs of the insurance 07:54.240 --> 07:58.110 and make it more amicable for them to come back into business. 07:58.110 --> 08:01.380 In our state, homeowners have another tool to lower 08:01.380 --> 08:05.218 their insurance rates by hiring a qualified inspector 08:05.384 --> 08:08.888 to do a wind mitigation survey of the home. 08:08.955 --> 08:11.524 Do you brought your house up 08:11.591 --> 08:13.726 to the current building codes? 08:13.726 --> 08:16.262 You had a form with this inspector that you feel that 08:16.262 --> 08:17.497 gave it to the insurance companies, 08:17.497 --> 08:21.434 and the insurance companies were mandated to give a discount on 08:21.534 --> 08:25.671 that one, in effect in six, I think. 08:25.771 --> 08:30.076 And and we had a lot of inspectors at the time 08:30.176 --> 08:35.176 and but it never really caught on. 08:38.251 --> 08:39.752 There are programs 08:39.752 --> 08:44.490 that open the door to homeownership for first time homebuyers here. 08:44.490 --> 08:45.625 And Wagman. 08:45.625 --> 08:48.294 In this particular neighborhood, there is a program 08:48.294 --> 08:51.397 known as a home opportunity mortgage. 08:51.397 --> 08:56.397 It offers 100% financing, no PMI, which is private mortgage insurance. 08:56.435 --> 09:00.706 It's not income based, but it is zip code specific. 09:00.806 --> 09:05.144 And in this case, majority minority areas. 09:05.244 --> 09:08.881 Many homebuilders believe lowering home insurance rates 09:08.948 --> 09:11.951 goes a long way in making homeownership affordable 09:12.018 --> 09:16.122 while amping up demand for new home construction. 09:16.188 --> 09:19.792 The houses are being built better, so they're not going to have as much damage. 09:19.892 --> 09:22.862 There's a new home. 09:23.029 --> 09:25.164 The cost piece of it I don't want do about that. 09:25.164 --> 09:28.367 Just pray to God that people's wages go up to catch up with it 09:28.467 --> 09:30.703 and then the insurance piece of it. 09:30.703 --> 09:34.440 New homes are getting better rates right now than existing homes. 09:34.440 --> 09:38.978 But if they can't sell their existing home because of insurance rates, 09:39.045 --> 09:43.950 because of where they're built, they can come by my home. 09:44.016 --> 09:45.217 Louisiana lawmakers 09:45.217 --> 09:49.388 have until January 30th to draw a new congressional map 09:49.455 --> 09:52.258 after a federal judge extended the deadline. 09:52.258 --> 09:56.195 The current congressional map is the subject of a lawsuit filed by civil 09:56.195 --> 09:57.263 rights groups 09:57.263 --> 10:00.733 claiming that a single majority black voter congressional district 10:00.967 --> 10:05.967 violates the voting rights Act and does not reflect the latest census data. 10:06.172 --> 10:10.209 Governor elect Jeff Landry takes office on January 8th, leaving 10:10.209 --> 10:15.209 time to convene a redistricting session before the court order deadline. 10:15.448 --> 10:18.084 Here's the latest on the legal dispute. 10:18.084 --> 10:23.084 The American Civil Liberties Union is proposing a Louisiana congressional map 10:23.289 --> 10:28.289 with congressional districts two and five as majority black districts. 10:28.527 --> 10:30.630 It's one remedial plan. 10:30.630 --> 10:35.630 One proposed map as a possible solution to create fair representation in Congress. 10:37.103 --> 10:41.941 For Louisiana's African-American voters, the current map of the state is passed. 10:42.141 --> 10:46.245 Lets the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans into one congressional district. 10:46.479 --> 10:49.715 When our map is separated, those two metropolitan area 10:49.782 --> 10:53.185 in the two different districts make sure that black voters are not passed 10:53.185 --> 10:56.355 into one district despite the differences in their living situation. 10:56.422 --> 10:58.724 We don't believe ours is the only map, and we're interested 10:58.724 --> 11:00.326 to see what the legislature comes up with. 11:00.326 --> 11:01.994 Try to comply with the voting rights Act. 11:01.994 --> 11:02.962 Recent U.S. 11:02.962 --> 11:05.031 Supreme Court rulings set the stage 11:05.031 --> 11:09.301 for Louisiana's legal showdown over its congressional redistricting. 11:09.301 --> 11:12.872 We think the Supreme Court victory in Alabama is an enormous statement 11:12.872 --> 11:15.241 about the strength of the Voting Rights Act. 11:15.241 --> 11:18.210 And we've also seen a recent win in Georgia following that. 11:18.210 --> 11:22.148 So we're eager to see the legislature come back into session as soon as possible. 11:22.181 --> 11:24.650 We're hoping that they will take the opportunity 11:24.650 --> 11:28.954 to do exactly what the district court required of them to draw a new majority 11:28.954 --> 11:31.957 minority district that would help black voters in Louisiana 11:32.191 --> 11:35.327 get fair representation consistent with the Voting Rights Act. 11:35.428 --> 11:38.431 Do you have faith that the Louisiana lawmakers 11:38.431 --> 11:41.400 are capable of doing this, given the current political climate? 11:41.500 --> 11:44.737 We're always hopeful, and we think that if anything, the case we've proven 11:44.737 --> 11:48.507 so far has given them a clear roadmap to how to draw a new majority black 11:48.507 --> 11:49.709 district in Louisiana. 11:49.709 --> 11:53.412 At issue is Louisiana's current congressional map, 11:53.612 --> 11:56.515 which has one majority black voter district. 11:56.515 --> 12:01.515 Despite 2020 census data showing that African-American comprised 12:01.620 --> 12:06.392 roughly one third of the state's population, you don't have strong opinions 12:06.392 --> 12:09.995 as to where the second majority black congressional district is. 12:09.995 --> 12:12.998 As long as we have a second majority. 12:13.099 --> 12:13.999 That is right. 12:13.999 --> 12:15.267 That is correct. 12:15.267 --> 12:18.037 At the end, we want to make sure that we have 12:18.037 --> 12:22.608 two legitimate seats, whether legitimate opportunities, 12:22.708 --> 12:26.445 not with narrow margins that don't take into effect 12:26.545 --> 12:31.545 the the disproportionate amount of voting participation. 12:31.650 --> 12:35.755 Louisiana Congressman Tori Carter, a Democrat, represents 12:35.755 --> 12:40.126 District two, the state's only black majority congressional district. 12:40.226 --> 12:44.663 District two includes most of Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish. 12:44.730 --> 12:48.334 The majority of the river Parishes and portions of East and West 12:48.334 --> 12:49.468 Baton Rouge Parish. 12:49.468 --> 12:51.437 It balances the playing field 12:51.437 --> 12:54.940 that gives cover to those individuals who feel like 12:55.007 --> 12:59.111 because their ideological views and philosophical views don't match up 12:59.178 --> 13:02.848 with those in the Republican Party would better match up with a Democrat. 13:02.915 --> 13:06.218 And then they have the opportunity to have their voices heard greater 13:06.452 --> 13:07.653 in the nation's capital. 13:07.653 --> 13:08.320 The U.S. 13:08.320 --> 13:12.758 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has extended the deadline to January 30th, 13:12.758 --> 13:17.758 2024, for lawmakers to redraw Louisiana's congressional boundaries. 13:18.297 --> 13:22.268 Governor elect Jeff Landry takes office January 8th 13:22.334 --> 13:27.039 in time to convene a redistricting session before the court deadline. 13:27.106 --> 13:31.777 Although the incoming administration has not committed publicly to calling one, 13:31.811 --> 13:35.714 I'm hopeful and optimistic that this governor and this legislature 13:35.714 --> 13:38.184 will do the right thing this time, particularly 13:38.184 --> 13:42.221 since we've had so many directives from the court 13:42.288 --> 13:44.256 saying either you do it or we will. 13:44.256 --> 13:47.393 If lawmakers fail to create a congressional map 13:47.393 --> 13:51.230 that is not in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the case heads 13:51.230 --> 13:56.202 to Louisiana's middle district court for a federal judge to decide. 13:56.268 --> 13:59.205 When Donna Edwards took on the role of Louisiana's first lady, 13:59.205 --> 14:00.739 she came with three goals 14:00.739 --> 14:03.976 for finding Louisiana's foster care and education system 14:04.076 --> 14:07.079 and creating a mechanism to fight against human trafficking. 14:07.179 --> 14:09.081 After eight years in office, Ms.. 14:09.081 --> 14:11.150 Edwards has seen her goals become a reality 14:11.150 --> 14:13.185 with the Louisiana First Foundation. 14:13.185 --> 14:15.120 In this in-depth interview with the First Lady. 14:15.120 --> 14:17.389 She reflects on her legacy. 14:17.389 --> 14:18.991 Let's rewind to 2016. 14:18.991 --> 14:21.360 So you become the first lady of Louisiana, 14:21.360 --> 14:23.195 and there's no training school for this position. 14:23.195 --> 14:25.965 It's something that you have to figure out on your own. 14:25.965 --> 14:29.869 What was your vision for the role and did it evolve over the years? 14:29.935 --> 14:33.606 You know, there is no job description for the first spouse. 14:33.672 --> 14:37.343 And so the only job requirement was that 14:37.343 --> 14:38.911 is that you have to be married to the governor. 14:38.911 --> 14:41.914 And so I you know, I fit that job description. 14:41.981 --> 14:45.084 I qualified after 34 years of marriage. 14:45.117 --> 14:49.421 So, you know, it did it evolved. I knew 14:49.488 --> 14:51.824 what I wanted that I knew. I. 14:51.824 --> 14:55.794 I started learning about the mansion. 14:55.861 --> 14:59.064 And so I the first thing I did is 14:59.064 --> 15:02.968 I got involved with wanting to 15:03.035 --> 15:03.702 repair. 15:03.702 --> 15:06.705 There was a lot of things that needed to be updated here. 15:06.939 --> 15:08.507 I knew that needed to happen. 15:08.507 --> 15:13.507 Invited Alice Foster over and and a group that had helped her. 15:14.113 --> 15:17.516 And so we started that process of building 15:17.583 --> 15:19.952 up the foundation or starting a new foundation 15:19.952 --> 15:22.087 because the other one had been laid to rest. 15:22.087 --> 15:25.691 So we started the Governor's Mansion Preservation Foundation, 15:25.758 --> 15:28.961 started raising money, working with other people, started 15:28.961 --> 15:32.698 working with interior designers, raised over 15:32.765 --> 15:37.765 $1,000,000 plus to refurbish and preserve this mansion. 15:38.504 --> 15:41.006 That's the first thing I did, 15:41.006 --> 15:43.042 because that was in front of me. 15:43.042 --> 15:45.778 The second thing, as a former music teacher, 15:45.778 --> 15:49.682 I wanted to to bring awareness that 15:49.748 --> 15:52.618 that was something that we needed to keep in our public schools. 15:52.618 --> 15:55.988 And all schools was music art movement. 15:56.055 --> 16:00.359 As a former music teacher, having left the classroom 16:00.426 --> 16:05.197 in our small town of Amy, they didn't replace me. 16:05.264 --> 16:08.067 And so all of those children every year 16:08.067 --> 16:12.037 that had been teaching and those that I had left, 16:12.104 --> 16:13.172 you know, 16:13.172 --> 16:17.109 now had a new music teacher, it saddened me. 16:17.176 --> 16:20.079 And so, you know, we know 16:20.079 --> 16:24.383 studies show that music, art and movement enhance the other core subjects. 16:24.383 --> 16:27.886 That is data statistics, all of that shows. 16:27.886 --> 16:32.424 And so I knew I wanted to bring awareness to the need for us to teach music, art, 16:32.424 --> 16:34.927 move in our schools. So I was going to do something with that. 16:34.927 --> 16:37.496 So that's where I started. That's where you started. 16:37.496 --> 16:41.700 And of course, that ended up giving way to that entire movement that you created, 16:41.700 --> 16:45.270 which was teacher music, art movement, which you just mentioned. 16:45.270 --> 16:47.406 Right? And then also it was all under that umbrella 16:47.406 --> 16:49.008 for the Louisiana First Foundation. 16:49.008 --> 16:52.011 So I started the foundation, Louisiana First Foundation, 16:52.177 --> 16:55.180 and then came the Teach music art movement, Teach man. 16:55.214 --> 16:56.048 I started Teach Man 16:56.048 --> 17:00.786 because as a former military wife and just in the south, we use ma'am a lot. 17:00.786 --> 17:03.422 And so it kind of brings about respect. 17:03.422 --> 17:05.324 Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. 17:05.324 --> 17:07.960 And so teach ma'am 17:08.060 --> 17:09.695 pretty much says respect the arts. 17:09.695 --> 17:12.698 And so that's where that came from. 17:12.765 --> 17:13.065 Yeah. 17:13.065 --> 17:16.068 And you were talking a lot about your 17:16.101 --> 17:18.303 your history as a public music school teacher. 17:18.303 --> 17:19.638 Do you think that there was anything else 17:19.638 --> 17:21.774 that you learned from that job that you took into this one 17:21.774 --> 17:23.609 that kind of prepared you for public service? 17:23.609 --> 17:27.279 I think John, Bill and I both value people, value people 17:27.279 --> 17:28.380 from all walks of life. 17:28.380 --> 17:31.483 And we both walked into this position 17:31.683 --> 17:36.683 with that same feeling and wanting to make things better. 17:36.955 --> 17:39.691 And, you know, coming from a very small community, 17:39.691 --> 17:44.096 a small area in a meet and having served that community 17:44.096 --> 17:47.866 after leaving the military, he was the president of the class. 17:47.866 --> 17:51.403 I was present auxiliary building up the community that we were in. 17:51.503 --> 17:53.539 We both live by their philosophy. 17:53.539 --> 17:55.140 Leave it better than you find it. Right. 17:55.140 --> 17:59.611 And so together we built a playground in our community. 17:59.611 --> 18:02.614 And so we brought that same mindset here. 18:02.748 --> 18:05.851 Him on, obviously a larger 18:05.918 --> 18:06.685 playground, this 18:06.685 --> 18:09.788 state and you know, here in the governor's mansion. 18:09.788 --> 18:13.959 And then taking that idea of the teach music art movement 18:13.959 --> 18:16.995 and then loving the children and then realizing 18:16.995 --> 18:21.100 that our Department of Children Family Services and the children 18:21.166 --> 18:26.166 that are there in the foster care program and then they end up in the states 18:26.939 --> 18:29.942 or in the states hands are our children. 18:29.942 --> 18:33.645 And so I wanted to be a part of that and what I can do to support them, 18:33.645 --> 18:34.947 to help them, 18:34.947 --> 18:38.016 because they needed some love and help and they need encouragement 18:38.016 --> 18:40.953 because caseworkers are most often like teachers and educators, 18:40.953 --> 18:44.790 they oftentimes pull out of their pockets to help the children. 18:44.890 --> 18:45.724 So. Right. 18:45.724 --> 18:47.593 And I actually do want to talk a little bit more 18:47.593 --> 18:50.596 about the work that you did with Louisiana's foster children 18:50.662 --> 18:53.532 and what's unique about this program is that it linked churches 18:53.532 --> 18:57.002 and faith based organizations with these foster groups. 18:57.069 --> 19:01.406 So how else has your faith influenced your work while you were in office? 19:01.607 --> 19:06.578 So we came up with the idea if every church, because we have over 4000 19:06.578 --> 19:11.383 churches in our state, we have over 4000 children in foster care at any given time. 19:11.483 --> 19:14.119 And so and this kind of go together, right? 19:14.119 --> 19:17.322 And so if every church in our state 19:17.422 --> 19:21.193 would consider recruiting one family within their church 19:21.293 --> 19:22.661 and that one family goes through 19:22.661 --> 19:26.331 the foster care program and become a certified foster family, 19:26.431 --> 19:27.199 and then the church 19:27.199 --> 19:31.870 wrap themselves around that family and that child, Are those children. 19:31.937 --> 19:34.072 Can you imagine what that would do 19:34.072 --> 19:37.509 for those children in our state or our communities? 19:37.576 --> 19:39.411 We would take care of all the children 19:39.411 --> 19:41.947 and then we would literally take care of every child in our state. 19:41.947 --> 19:43.182 That's huge. 19:43.182 --> 19:44.183 And it wouldn't be hard. 19:44.183 --> 19:46.818 It's not like we have a we have to have a program. 19:46.818 --> 19:50.989 I have to do is stand up in church and say, who in the congregation is a 19:50.989 --> 19:54.326 is a foster parent who in the congregation knows someone's a foster parent? 19:54.526 --> 19:57.196 What can we do to help them this week? Can we bring them food? 19:57.196 --> 19:58.864 We love food in Louisiana. 19:58.864 --> 20:01.166 We can bring them food this once a week. 20:01.166 --> 20:04.069 Can we offer to support them in afterschool programs? 20:04.069 --> 20:06.805 Maybe there's a tutoring program, maybe there's a basketball. 20:06.805 --> 20:08.373 We have basketball in our community. 20:08.373 --> 20:11.310 You know, offer to help them with clothing. 20:11.310 --> 20:14.279 Maybe they need 20:14.346 --> 20:16.748 prom dresses or maybe there's a, 20:16.748 --> 20:20.385 you know, some school clothes offer to help them with tutoring. 20:20.385 --> 20:23.422 There's all kinds of things we can do to help. 20:23.422 --> 20:26.458 But I encourage the churches to step up and be a part of that. 20:26.458 --> 20:29.861 And so that's something I will continue to do even after leaving office. 20:29.962 --> 20:33.732 Well, another aspect of the Louisiana First Foundation was human trafficking. 20:33.832 --> 20:36.835 It is you mentioned in other interviews that you didn't know 20:36.835 --> 20:40.472 much about human trafficking before taking on the role as first lady. 20:40.672 --> 20:42.874 So what compelled you to get involved with this? 20:42.874 --> 20:44.343 Well, I didn't. 20:44.343 --> 20:46.211 And I'm embarrassed to tell you that I didn't. 20:46.211 --> 20:47.312 And I say that quite often. 20:47.312 --> 20:51.016 And it's one of those situations that once you do know it, 20:51.049 --> 20:54.353 when you hear about it, you can't unhear it. 20:54.453 --> 20:56.922 Once you 20:56.989 --> 20:59.758 know that it's right here in your own community, which it is. 20:59.758 --> 21:02.361 It was in our community. And I meet 21:02.361 --> 21:04.930 you can't walk away from that and you can't say, 21:04.930 --> 21:06.598 I don't want to have a part of that. 21:06.598 --> 21:10.002 These are children, the average age of a young girl 21:10.002 --> 21:14.439 in our state of Louisiana that is trafficked is 13. 21:14.506 --> 21:17.876 And so you have to say, what can I do? 21:17.909 --> 21:19.745 How can I help with this situation? 21:19.745 --> 21:24.149 And I knew I could possibly leverage this leadership role at some level 21:24.349 --> 21:27.653 to be a voice for the voiceless, to help in some way. 21:27.653 --> 21:29.521 And what can I do? What could I do? 21:29.521 --> 21:34.059 And so I just started reaching out to others, you know, and talking about it and 21:34.126 --> 21:35.427 speaking out about it. 21:35.427 --> 21:40.198 And we started working and through the office, 21:40.265 --> 21:42.701 the governor's Office of Human Trafficking Awareness. 21:42.701 --> 21:43.335 Dana, Dr. 21:43.335 --> 21:47.239 Dana Hunter, we were able she was able to just really work 21:47.239 --> 21:50.242 hard to train law enforcement. 21:50.242 --> 21:53.245 We traveled the state, had summits around the state. 21:53.312 --> 21:55.080 I've had my own Zoom summit. 21:55.080 --> 21:58.684 We've went from 300 people attending to over 600 21:58.684 --> 22:02.821 800 people from around not just our state, the country, other countries. 22:02.888 --> 22:06.158 Now, I've started the National Coalition for the Prevention of Human Sex 22:06.158 --> 22:09.161 Trafficking with other for spouses around the country. 22:09.261 --> 22:10.762 And I'll continue to do that, 22:10.762 --> 22:13.231 spreading awareness because it's happening in every state. 22:13.231 --> 22:15.734 Well, eight years is a lot of time for hindsight. 22:15.734 --> 22:19.171 What is the most difficult aspect of being the first spouse? 22:19.204 --> 22:20.839 We've had a lot of trauma. 22:20.839 --> 22:22.841 A lot of things happen over these last eight years. 22:22.841 --> 22:27.412 You know, the 2016, we had multiple tornadoes that year. 22:27.412 --> 22:29.348 We had shooting here in Baton Rouge. 22:29.348 --> 22:31.683 We had officers killed. 22:31.683 --> 22:36.683 We had we had the that blood of 2016, I was going to say a 100 year flood. 22:38.390 --> 22:41.793 And I pause because I think now they're saying it's what, 22:41.860 --> 22:45.731 300, 400 year flood, something even bigger than that, longer than that. 22:45.731 --> 22:49.134 But that was just in one year. It's a lot. 22:49.167 --> 22:53.305 And to watch your husband go through that and to watch our our friends 22:53.305 --> 22:57.476 and family members in our state go through, that was hard. 22:57.542 --> 23:01.847 And then all the hurricanes that we've had and COVID and 23:01.947 --> 23:04.950 the drought and the fires and 23:05.083 --> 23:08.787 salt in the river, it's just been a lot over this last eight years. 23:08.787 --> 23:12.290 And so but, you know, I believe that God put him here 23:12.290 --> 23:16.461 for this time because his military experience 23:16.561 --> 23:19.931 really played a huge part in how he governed our state. 23:20.132 --> 23:23.668 And is there anything that you'll miss? 23:23.735 --> 23:24.936 I'll miss a lot. 23:24.936 --> 23:29.936 All the dismissed the people you know, this has been such a joy, a humbling 23:30.175 --> 23:33.745 and an honor to be here in this governor's mansion. 23:33.745 --> 23:37.215 And we have really tried very hard to open it 23:37.315 --> 23:40.852 to to remind people that this is the state's home. 23:40.852 --> 23:43.555 It always is. Is so much fun when children come to visit. 23:43.555 --> 23:45.791 I come down and I welcome them to the governor's mansion. 23:45.791 --> 23:49.428 And I say, did you know that this is your mansion? 23:49.428 --> 23:54.428 And their eyes get really big right now, like, Yes, this is your mansion. 23:54.533 --> 23:56.067 This is the state's home. 23:56.067 --> 23:59.671 And so to be able to share this with the people of the state 23:59.671 --> 24:03.408 and remind them that this is their home and to take care of it and to leave it 24:03.408 --> 24:08.046 better than I found it has been such a wonderful, rewarding experience. 24:08.113 --> 24:10.515 So what's next for you after all of this is over? 24:10.515 --> 24:12.684 I'm going home to be a grandmother. 24:12.684 --> 24:15.420 Yes, I'm very excited about that. 24:15.420 --> 24:18.557 And I'm to take some time to rest and and I'm 24:18.557 --> 24:22.561 going to keep working in my foundation and working hard to continue 24:22.561 --> 24:26.064 bringing awareness of the need to support foster children, 24:26.131 --> 24:31.131 the need to remind people about human trafficking and making. 24:31.303 --> 24:36.303 We have some great laws, but continue making our laws tougher and harder 24:36.408 --> 24:39.277 and remind people that, you know, 24:39.277 --> 24:43.181 if there are no buyers, we wouldn't have this issue. 24:43.281 --> 24:47.018 And then also continue talking about the need for music 24:47.018 --> 24:51.256 art movement because, you know, we had John Bettis here the other night 24:51.356 --> 24:53.592 and wow, that should remind us 24:53.592 --> 24:56.695 all why there's a need for music art movement in our schools. 24:56.761 --> 24:57.629 Right. 24:57.629 --> 24:58.663 All right. Well, thank you so much. 24:58.663 --> 25:00.765 Just slightly. 25:00.765 --> 25:03.835 According to the most recent data from the Louisiana Department of Health, 25:03.835 --> 25:08.373 our state records 30 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. 25:08.440 --> 25:12.344 Lack of access to quality health care, racial disparities and social determinants 25:12.344 --> 25:16.515 of health are all factors in Louisiana's poor maternal health outcomes. 25:16.615 --> 25:19.751 In this latest episode of Louisiana Spotlight, we analyze 25:19.751 --> 25:23.154 how Louisiana got here and what we can do to improve. 25:23.221 --> 25:28.221 Here's a sneak peek of Louisiana Spotlights Birthright. 25:31.396 --> 25:32.531 I'm Tiffany Dietrich. 25:32.531 --> 25:34.132 I'm a licensed midwife. 25:34.132 --> 25:37.202 We are at Sage Birth Center in New Orleans. 25:37.202 --> 25:39.371 It's the first freestanding birth center. 25:39.371 --> 25:42.307 We've been here for about two years. 25:42.307 --> 25:45.377 I have had a birth center in California for about 13 years, 25:45.377 --> 25:48.380 and I started doing birth work in the nineties. 25:48.446 --> 25:51.182 I was initially licensed in Washington State 25:51.182 --> 25:56.182 and then practicing in California and then most recently here, Louisiana. 25:56.288 --> 26:01.288 Midwifery model of care is very focused on education. 26:02.460 --> 26:04.996 It's informed consent driven. 26:04.996 --> 26:08.300 We have a very specific demographic of clients 26:08.300 --> 26:12.470 that we take that are appropriate to birth in an out of hospital setting. 26:12.571 --> 26:16.141 In reality, that's most women in pregnancy. 26:16.241 --> 26:18.810 We provide all of the prenatal care. 26:18.810 --> 26:23.810 We do the birth, we do all of the postpartum care and education. 26:24.149 --> 26:29.149 And the amount of time that we spend in visits is a big part of improving birth 26:29.754 --> 26:34.754 outcomes in the South are outcomes are very poor for mothers and babies. 26:36.194 --> 26:39.431 Particular for women of color. 26:39.497 --> 26:42.901 And we know that if you look statistically 26:42.901 --> 26:46.905 at outcomes with midwifery based care, it's much better. 26:47.005 --> 26:51.142 You can watch the full Louisiana Spotlight episode on December 19th at 7 p.m. 26:51.142 --> 26:53.111 on OPB. 26:53.211 --> 26:54.512 That's our show for this week. 26:54.512 --> 26:59.512 Remember, you can watch anything anytime, wherever you are with our LP app, 27:00.518 --> 27:03.388 you can catch LP news and public affairs shows as well 27:03.388 --> 27:06.591 as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years. 27:06.691 --> 27:09.928 And please like us on Facebook and Instagram 27:09.995 --> 27:12.998 for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting. 27:13.031 --> 27:15.433 I'm Karen Lalor and I'm crossing here. 27:15.433 --> 27:16.668 Until next time. 27:16.668 --> 27:21.668 That's the state we're in. 27:39.624 --> 27:42.060 Every day I go to work for Entergy. 27:42.060 --> 27:43.828 I know customers are counting on me. 27:43.828 --> 27:47.365 So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on 27:47.432 --> 27:51.302 and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen. 27:51.369 --> 27:53.171 Together, together. Together. 27:53.171 --> 27:58.171 We power life. 28:05.550 --> 28:08.286 Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth B 28:08.286 --> 28:12.757 Zeigler Foundation and the Zeigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall. 28:12.824 --> 28:15.827 The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists 28:15.927 --> 28:20.598 and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana 28:20.699 --> 28:21.066 and the 28:21.066 --> 28:24.135 foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. 28:24.369 --> 28:26.404 With support from viewers like you.