Lauderhill Chamber honors five Caribbean community pillars at Heritage Awards Night

Five crystal awards sat in a row on a mirrored table at the Chateau Mar Golf Resort on Thursday, June 25, 2026, waiting for the people who earned them. One by one, the honorees were called forward, and by the end of the night, the Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce had lived up to its motto, “Together We Grow.”

The second annual Caribbean Heritage Awards Night, held from 6 to 10 p.m. during Caribbean Heritage Month, drew elected officials, faith leaders, business owners and families. Guests walked a red carpet and stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, and 14-year-old Shyla Dave, a runner-up in this year’s Lauderhill Rising Star competition, opened with the national anthem.

Mayor Denise D. Grant arrived with a proclamation. With Commissioner John T. Hudson helping to read it, she declared June 25, 2026, “Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce Day” on behalf of herself, Vice Mayor Richard Campbell and Commissioners Sa’rai “Ray” Martin, Melissa P. Dunn and Hudson. More than 40% of Lauderhill residents trace their roots to the Caribbean, chamber leaders noted. “We claim the joy, we claim the energy, but we also claim the innovation and the resilience,” Chamber President Sharon McLennon said.

A keynote on goodness and justice

The evening’s keynote came from Broward County Court Judge Jackie Powell, a Jamaican jurist and one of the night’s honorees, who received the Legacy of Justice Award. First elected to the Broward bench in 2018 and reelected in 2024, Powell presides over civil matters and is also an ordained minister. She opened by leading the room in a verse of “Goodness of God.”

“I am standing here tonight as a testimony that God’s goodness runs after you,” she said.

She then turned her remarks into a lesson in legal survival, warning that a monetary judgment can follow a person for up to 20 years and that tenants facing eviction for unpaid rent have only five days to deposit it with the court before a judge can hear their case. “If you get nothing out of what I said tonight, please encourage them not to bury their heads in the sand,” she told leaders in the room, before closing on Jeremiah 29:11. “You were not created to be destroyed. You were created to be something good.”

Honoring service, faith and leadership

The Legacy of Service Award went to Debbie Banner, recognized for 23 years with the Lauderhill Police Department and continued service through the Kiwanis Club of Lauderhill. A familiar face in the community, Banner can be found advocating at nearly every event. “As we say in the Caribbean, one one coco full basket,” she said, noting that small acts of service add up “to create something strong, meaningful and lasting.”

The Legacy of Faith Award honored Bishop Henry Fernandez of the Faith Center, the Plantation ministry he founded in 1991 with just 11 members and now leads with his wife, Co-Pastor Carol Fernandez. The couple also founded the University of Fort Lauderdale. Chamber leaders praised his Hurricane Melissa relief work in Jamaica, where they said he helped raise about $150,000 and traveled to the island to ensure it reached families hardest hit by the Category 5 storm. “Never allow the circumstances of life to convince you that your dreams are out of reach,” Fernandez said.

The Leadership and Lifetime Achievement Award went to retiring Lauderhill Police Chief Constance Stanley, who has served the city since 1994 and arrived straight from receiving the department’s accreditation. The room rose for a standing ovation. “I’ve been dedicated from the day I started, and I’ll be dedicated until the day I depart,” she said. Stanley retires in November.

Threading the honors together was the chamber’s own story. Its founder, former Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness, now a candidate for U.S. Congress in District 20, recalled starting the organization 14 years ago. “Government cannot do it by themselves. We need partnerships,” he said.

‘Mr. Housing,’ the Downpayment King

The evening’s most personal tribute was saved for last. Chester Bishop, the affordable housing advocate introduced from the stage as “Mr. Housing,” though the community knows him better as the “Downpayment King,” received the Empowerment Award for decades of expanding opportunity and helping families into homes.

Broward County Commissioner Hazelle P. Rogers introduced her dear friend, recalling that the two met on the campaign trail in 1995. “Chester will use all of his resources to help every client that comes into his office, and that’s what we needed,” she said. “That’s the only way we create wealth.”

Bishop grew emotional as he accepted the award.

“When I began this journey, I did not set out to build a legacy,” he said. “I simply believed that every person and every family deserves a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.”

“Housing, more than shelter, is the foundation for opportunity, stability, health, education and hope,” he added.

He thanked elected officials by name, praising Rogers for “always fighting to find more money for affordable housing” and calling Grant “the one person who, when you call, picks up the phone.” Then he asked a woman in the audience to stand.

“Lydia Glasgow, if you could please stand up,” he said. When he set out to open a minority-owned title company, few people were willing to help him. Glasgow, then a loan officer at Barnett Bank, now Bank of America, was the exception. “Back then, not too many people helped a minority title company, but she did. She helped me the first several years. And I just want to thank you.”

He thanked his wife and daughters, who were in the audience, and the partners who have walked the affordable housing road with him over the years.

As the night drew to a close, Commissioner Rogers offered the final word. “I’m serious about education. I’m serious about our children. I’m serious about housing,” she said. “Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t.”

The message in the ballroom matched the words engraved on the awards: strong communities are built by people who choose to care, contribute and serve. “We have a lot of work to do,” Bishop said, “but I know we have wind behind us.”

The second annual Caribbean Heritage Awards Night was hosted by the Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce at the Chateau Mar Golf Resort, 3501 Inverrary Blvd., Lauderhill. For information about the chamber, its programs and upcoming events, it can be reached at 4300 N. University Drive, Ste. D-203, Lauderhill; (754) 206-4206; or info@LauderhillCoC.org.