For years, the Baton Rouge Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation (LECJF) has helped local law enforcement agencies invest in technology and equipment. Most notably, its Page/Rice Public Safety Initiative increased camera coverage in high-crime and high-traffic areas and added license plate readers along interstates and highways. Now, the organization is spearheading a new approach to crime prevention and public safety in North Baton Rouge, starting with the Inspiration Center at Howell Community Park.

“Every child in our parish has the potential to be great. We just have to give them the tools and the resources to do so,” Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said at the groundbreaking ceremony last month.

For Inspiration Center committee chairman Lamar Davis, Ret. Col., the project is close to home. He offers a unique perspective as someone who grew up in the area and benefitted from programs offered at Howell Community Park, and as the retired Louisiana State Police Superintendent with nearly three decades of military and law enforcement experience.

“I’ve learned that most of the issues we face that end up being crimes or associated with crime start in the home or the community,” he says. “I was raised in a single-parent home, and my mom worked triple shifts. She did not make a lot of money, so I didn’t have proper access to health care.” Davis had a problem reading in class, which led him and his teachers to believe that he could not read or comprehend passages. “It wasn’t until I joined the Army that the Army determined that I needed glasses because I had an astigmatism. And that’s something that plagued me throughout school. It led to bullying, and that led to fights, which led to suspensions and other problems. But once that was cured and I got into the Army, I felt like my world opened up. I became interested in not only reading but learning.”  Now, he’s working to ensure a new generation has access to quality healthcare and community resources.

The 25,000-square-foot Inspiration Center will house an indoor basketball court, two computer labs, a video game arena, a recording studio, classrooms, and a full kitchen and cafeteria, says LECJF founding chairman Clay Young. DentaQuest will offer free dental services for locals, with additional partnerships developing as the project nears completion, Young explains. The Boys and Girls Club of Metro Louisiana will be the anchor tenant responsible for staffing and operations.

“This is a significant step forward in providing a safe space for our children to learn and grow,” says President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Louisiana and LECJF vice chairman Angel Nelson.

Nelson says programming will focus on promoting academic success, healthy lifestyle choices and character and citizenship development. Young, Davis and other LECJF representatives toured similar facilities in Minnesota and Atlanta as part of their research. That’s when Young realized the project would require far more than the $1 million he initially thought. He put together a presentation for then-Gov. John Bel Edwards to get in front of businesses and Louisiana’s industry partners. His administration committed $5 million to the project, and the legislature approved it. Then, changes to the agreement required the approval of Gov. Jeff Landry and a new legislature. “We had two different governors and two different legislatures approve this money, which is almost unheard of in Louisiana,” Young says. The City of Baton Rouge has contributed nearly $1.5 million, and along with donations from ExxonMobil, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and funding made available through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, LECJ has secured $9 million for the facility. Young quickly points out that the center at Howell Community Park is only the beginning. “We have no superhero agenda. We believe it can be an asset. And the Inspiration Center initiative intends to put smaller versions around the parish,” he says. The initiative puts into action the principle that access to healthcare, mentorship and fellowship will improve public safety and reduce crime.

“I’m proof,” Davis says. “I’m no more special than anybody else, but I’ve been able to rise to the highest level of the military for my area and work for the highest law enforcement agency in the state, and that’s been because other people invested in me. They’ve given to me, they poured into me. I feel we have a duty to humanity to help others who do not have that access available to them in their household.”