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.
Blog & Community Events
Meet TaMara Reed
SWITCH Youth’s TaMara Reed: Helping participants see futures they did not imagine
Power shift
At age 13, with his parents not getting along and his father mostly absent, Deangelo Luckett joined a gang. It didn’t take long for him to find a gun in his hand. With his mother struggling to feed the family, Luckett felt like he now had the means to help.
Engaging One Block at a Time
Memphis Allies’ mission to reduce gun violence is carried out daily by going into the city’s neighborhoods. Sometimes when there is trouble, and other times to simply meet people where they are: to share some food and a conversation, or a laugh and provide a bouncy house and a water slide for the neighborhood kids on a hot summer day.
This Line of Work Chooses You
This line of work chooses you, you don’t choose it. For Memphis Allies and partner organizations, the work to reduce gun violence isn’t just a job; it isn’t just clocking in 9 to 5, it’s a 24/7 commitment.
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,’ 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
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.
Finding the Light
Step-by-step, SWITCH participant finding the light For decades, Gary was in hiding. He just didn’t know it. “Growing up, I created the mask,” he said. “Be the tough guy to exist in society.”
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 just a means to an end. In fact, at age 19, it enabled Porter to have his own place. “My first apartment on my own was a jail cell,” he said. Porter stayed more than four years. By the time he got out, he had learned money was worthless compared to freedom.