Memphis Allies Posts

Most Recent Memphis Allies Posts

Memphis Allies Statement: April 9, 2025

Memphis Allies Statement: April 9, 2025

We are heartbroken over the senseless act of gun violence on Wednesday that claimed the life of a Memphis Allies program participant at one of our sites. Our hearts go out to the victim’s family and to the staff members who had been working with the young man.

The Means and Skills for Success

The Means and Skills for Success

SWITCH Youth participant ‘Jaden’ has the ‘means and the skills’ for success. Jaden was not in a good place when he entered Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program at age 17.

This is ‘Heart Work’

This is ‘Heart Work’

This is ‘heart work,’ says Memphis Allies SWITCH supervisor

His name is Earve Mathis, but around Memphis Allies’ South Memphis office, he is better known as “Mr. E.”

A life coach supervisor in the adult SWITCH program, Mr. E knows well the cost of making bad decisions.

Carl Davis receives HBCU Empowerment Award

Carl Davis receives HBCU Empowerment Award

Memphis Allies’ Carl Davis receives HBCU Empowerment Award. By his own admission, proud Craigmont High School graduate Carl Davis went to Tennessee State University because he had friends going there.

More Memphis Allies Posts

Chance for Change

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

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...

Meet Team Supervisor TCion

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

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’

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:...

Outreach Never Stops

Outreach Never Stops

Memphis Allies: Interrupting the drumbeat of gun violence Life coach Briant Kelly, also known as B Radical, has a routine with the guys he works with in Memphis Allies’ SWITCH program: he calls them first thing in the morning and again before they go to bed at night....

Leadership Promotions at Memphis Allies

Leadership Promotions at Memphis Allies

Memphis Allies announces two leadership promotions As Memphis Allies moves into its third year of providing direct services to those most at risk for gun violence, Executive Director Susan Deason has announced two staff promotions: Jevonte Porter has been promoted to...

Meet Regional Supervisor Aviance

Meet Regional Supervisor Aviance

Right where she is supposed to be, Aviance Brown-Austin was meant for this work Aviance Brown-Austin was born to a 15-year-old mother, and partially raised by a youngish grandmother. “Technically, I raised myself,” she said. “Along with the streets.” Aviance made her...

Self-Care Isn’t Selfish

Self-Care Isn’t Selfish

The danger of being on the front lines is never just immediate. Sometimes, it’s the collateral damage that hits home. This is true for combat veterans – many of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), for law enforcement, for firefighters and...

This project is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee and with support of other funders