Image above: Debbie Thompson, Memphis Allies community relations manager, and Jevonte Porter, Memphis Allies community relations director

Memphis Allies community relations team making vital connections

In 2022, when Memphis Allies began sending outreach specialists into neighborhoods, they also formed a community relations team.

“We knew we needed that community relations team to work alongside our frontline staff intervening to stop the next shooting,” said Susan Deason, executive director of Memphis Allies. “All of this is part of Memphis Allies being interconnected with the communities where we serve.”

To that point, each of the seven regions where Memphis Allies provides programming has a community relations coordinator. The coordinator attends community meetings and makes essential contacts.

As Memphis Allies’ participants work through programming, they are eventually asked to engage their community — the community where they once did more harm than good.

In stage 3 of SWITCH (Support with Intention to Create Hope) programming, participants plan, organize and complete a Community Action Project.

This could mean gathering school supplies for children, handing out coats in the winter or manning a grill at a summer cookout.

Often, Memphis Allies’ outreach and community relations teams work in tandem. While outreach specialists conduct a neighborhood canvass to reach those at the highest risk for gun violence, the community relations team will set up a table with flyers and merch.

“There’s always someone who comes up to the table and says, `What if I know someone who could benefit from your program?’” Thompson said. “Or somebody who says, `I’ve been telling people about Memphis Allies.’

“We’re out there spreading the word. We really have a passion for what we are doing.”

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