Blog & Community Events

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: 2-year-old Jevonte Jr., and 3-year-old daughter Madison.

read more
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...

read more
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...

read more
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...

read more
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 correctional workers and, yes, for those working in community violence intervention (CVI).

read more
A ‘Peacekeeping’ Mission

A ‘Peacekeeping’ Mission

Memphis Allies: A `peacekeeping’ mission in progress

Recently, Antonio Dowdy’s phone rang in the middle of the night. Dowdy, as a Memphis Allies outreach specialist, works to establish relationships with young people most at risk for gun violence.

read more
Ashley Furniture and The Grizzlies

Ashley Furniture and The Grizzlies

Community Spotlight: Ashley’s and the Grizzlies give children a special night at FedEx Forum. Ashley’s Hope to Dream initiative partnered with the Memphis Grizzlies and Memphis Allies to bring beds to the children and siblings of Memphis Allies participants and others.

read more
Training Never Stops

Training Never Stops

At Memphis Allies, the training never stops Every day in Memphis, businesses provide their employees with continuing education and new training. It’s a temperature check of...

read more
Meet Christina

Meet Christina

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH MEMPHIS ALLIES: CHRISTINA GANN, A GUIDING LIGHT
When the Memphis Allies initiative to reduce gun violence launched in 2021, the enormity of the challenge was understood:

People on the front lines would be working with a high-risk population, but that population wouldn’t just be a collection of clones. Rather, each would have their own story.

read more
Meet Randy

Meet Randy

Known simply as “Coach” or “OG” to the young men he trains, Elite Performance Foundation founder Randy Dixon doesn’t hesitate to tell them that he loves them, saying, “Most of them have never heard that from a man.” Dixon’s boxing gym is in Hickory Hill, and he is a new partner with Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program.

read more