Step-by-step, SWITCH participant finding the light For decades, Gary was in hiding. He just didn’t know it. “Growing...
Memphis Allies Posts
Most Recent Memphis Allies Posts
Nothing to Lose
‘These guys have nothing to lose’ is why Memphis Allies’ Tito Porter does what he does A gun, Tito Porter says, is...
Quincy reaches potential with SWITCH Youth
SWITCH Youth helping Quincy to realize his potential Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program is not just trying to reach...
More Memphis Allies Posts
Red Door Urban Missions in South Memphis
Memphis Allies partner Red Door Urban Missions has deep roots in South Memphis It is a quiet Monday morning—no immediate evidence of the gun violence that is rife in what Eric Watkins calls the “concrete jungle.” Watkins, founder of Red Door Urban Missions, is sitting...
Chance for Change
SWITCH Youth: Every potential act of gun violence comes with a ‘why?’ Even when a shot has not been fired, the professionals working within Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program understand time is of the essence. Recently, a teenager in the program got into an argument...
SWITCH Hosts Community Event
Raleigh/Frayser SWITCH participants put on event for the community Call it a matter of give and take. Before entering Memphis Allies’ programming, many of the participants had been taking from their own communities. But now, as stage 3 SWITCH participants, their focus...
Helping Heal the Hood
Heal the Hood to provide ‘pro-social’ programming in support of SWITCH Youth Ladell Beamon’s Heal the Hood Foundation of Memphis, which impacts Memphis youth through the arts, is a new supporting partner of Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program. As part of that...
‘Big Homie’ Partners with Memphis Allies
Founder Tim Jones ‘knows how to reach the streets’ The first time Carl Davis saw him, Tim Jones was on stage at a Holy Hip-Hop event in North Memphis. “Giving his testimony, being relatable to the crowd,” said Davis, who is Memphis Allies Operations Director. “He was...
Meet Team Supervisor TCion
Outreach is local – whether in Memphis or Afghanistan When TCion Cason was a combat medic, his commander had three words for Army troops as they entered a new area of Afghanistan where the locals did not know them. “‘Hearts and minds,’ we were there to capture the...
Meet Case Manager Alejandro
Case Manager Alejandro Salinas 'goes the extra mile' Memphis Allies Case Manager Alejandro Salinas sees it all the time: trauma that impacts decision-making. The trauma might show up in the form of poverty and gun violence. It might be inspired by a lack of love and...
Community Attends ‘Walk Against Gun Violence’
Change will require the ’collective us,’ Mayor Young says Jevonte Porter, Memphis Allies’ community relations director, was pushing a stroller at the Ninth Annual Walk Against Gun Violence in Orange Mound. Porter’s passengers in that stroller were precious to him:...
TWINS Founders Brandon and Bryan
Partners Spotlight: TWINS founders Brandon and Bryan Mathis When Brandon Mathis recalls how he and his twin brother Bryan grew up, he describes gunshots as “normal” and joining a gang at age 10 as like being in a fraternity. “You got a color, a letter, a family, a...