Breakthrough conference Posts

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.

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 rapping, telling a real story, just without the cursing. He was giving the glory to God.”

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.

For partner organizations, the pattern of change has started

Ephie Johnson, president and CEO of Neighborhood Christian Centers, Inc., was a co-host of the first Breakthrough Conference in 2023. She liked what the national speakers on community violence intervention, or CVI, had to say. And she appreciated the effort to bring organizations together in one place.

In a large ballroom at the Memphis Hilton, almost 500 people had gathered for the 2024 Breakthrough Conference dedicated to community violence intervention (CVI.)

Facing them was Anthony Smith, executive director of Cities United. Standing behind a lectern on stage, Smith would have a lot to say about CVI work and the necessity of cooperation and collaboration.

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).