IBERIA PARISH — Iberia Parish District 12 Councilwoman Lady Fontenette Brown was born and raised in Jeanerette, and her love for her hometown has shaped everything she does — from her work in mental health advocacy to her push to preserve Black history in her community.
Brown said her deep connection to Jeanerette was instilled in her early.
"I think just hearing my grandmother always say how much she loved Jeanerette — how Jeanerette was the best city ever. She would be like, 'I don't want to move anywhere else'... After traveling the world, I now understand exactly and have those mutual feelings. I share those feelings with my grandmother," Brown said. "Jeanerette is like my little piece of heaven in this world," she added.
Her passion for helping others took on new urgency when her brother, Aaren, began battling bipolar disorder and PTSD.
"Eventually, my brother completed suicide," she said.
Brown said the grief she carries is ongoing, but she remains committed to moving forward.
"It's been X number of years since I lost my brother, but I still have my moments, and healing is a journey, and you have to just wake up every day and believe and say, 'Hey, you know what? I'm going to get through this day,' and every day gets better."
Channeling that pain into action, Brown won a seat on the Iberia Parish Council and founded Bee the 1 to Help Someone, an organization focused on supporting people dealing with mental health challenges. Through the organization, volunteers receive mental health first aid training to help people who are struggling.
"And so you're more knowledgeable on what the person is going through, and you have the knowledge now to kind of give them the information they need to go and get help from another individual, so you're being the one to help someone," she said.
Brown's commitment to her community also extends to historic preservation. The Railroad Historic Cultural District is an effort she describes as close to her heart — a way to restore and preserve Black history in Jeanerette before desegregation.
"That's what I hope this cultural district can do. We can get in there and kind of improve it, give it a facelift, and kind of make investments because individuals in this community are also deserving of resources and beautification," she said.
