Demetrus Coonrod represents District 9 on the Chattanooga City Council - from East Chattanooga and Eastdale to Glenwood to Missionary Ridge and Ridgedale.
She grew up in a working-class family in East Chattanooga - no stranger to economic struggle and income inequality.
She watched her parents battle drug addiction - and she endured multiple traumas of her own - in a journey that led to incarceration for a felony conviction - and then, redemption and public office.
Demetrus Coonrod tells her story - difficult to tell and difficult to hear - in her book, “Prison to Purpose: A Past That Shaped My Future.”
A few weeks ago, she stopped by our studio.
