Memphis Allies Posts

Most Recent 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

Helping Heal the Hood

Helping Heal the Hood

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.

‘Big Homie’ Partners with Memphis Allies

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

More Memphis Allies Posts

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:...

TWINS Founders Brandon and Bryan

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...

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...

The Pattern of Change Has Started

The Pattern of Change Has Started

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,...

CVI Work is Like Running a Marathon

CVI Work is Like Running a Marathon

CVI work is like running a marathon at a sprinter’s pace Attendance at second Breakthrough Conference in Memphis doubles from 2023. In a large ballroom at the Memphis Hilton, almost 500 people had gathered for the 2024 Breakthrough Conference dedicated to community...