MoBay-born doctor campaigns for Miramar City Commission
Published:Wednesday | March 1, 2017 | 12:00 AMCecelia Campbell Livingston
Dr Venessa Walker is raising Jamaica's flag high in Miramar, South Florida, where she is presently campaigning for Miramar City Commission Seat 2, where she will be going up against incumbent City Commissioner Yvette Colbourne, also of Jamaican heritage.
Come March 14, should she succeed in winning that seat, she will be in a position to govern over the city.
Sharing her plans with Rural Xpress, Walker, who hails from Salem in Montego Bay and attended Corinaldi Avenue Primary School, before migrating to the United States, said her life has always been about serving.
Coming from a lineage of persons who serve - her mother, Vashti Walker, worked as a registered nurse at Cornwall Hospital for many years, and her father, Owen, is an ordained minister.
"One thing I would work hard at is to create opportunities in making it easier to start a business, and also work to keep our city safe," she said.
Also on her mandate is to keep taxes low while she tries to push economic development for the people of Miramar, all while trying to be a transparent, hard-working leader.
Walker, a chiropractor by profession, has been involved in serving others through her business Walker Chiropractic and Wellness Centre, as well as through her Owen Walker Foundation.
EMPOWERING YOUTH
Speaking about the foundation set up in the name of her late 22-year-old brother, who died while playing basketball, she said she takes every opportunity to empower young adults for change.
"We do scholarship every year, mentor and aid in health and wellness. For the past five years, we have also been sending back-to-school as well as medical supplies, including specially made bedspreads, to nursing homes in and around Montego Bay," she shared.
Looking ahead, Walker said she would love to be more involved in empowering young people in Jamaica.
"I have read with a sad heart on the deaths of the young sporting stars and it reminds me so much on how my brother died. I plan to come back to Jamaica and empower through a combination of mentorship, sharing financial resources and educating on healthy lifestyle," she said of some of her future goals.
As March 14 approaches, Walker said she has the blessings of her parents as, in her own words, "service is what we do".
She said they are very encouraging of the move - even walking with her daily to knock on doors, drumming up support for her. With a laugh she quipped, "they don't miss a beat".