Memphis Allies Stories

Making Vital Connections

by | Feb 25, 2026 | Memphis Allies, SWITCH

Image above: Debbie Thompson, Memphis Allies community relations manager, and Jevonte Porter, Memphis Allies community relations director

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.

“We knew we needed that community relations team to work alongside our frontline staff intervening to stop the next shooting,” said Susan Deason, executive director of Memphis Allies. “All of this is part of Memphis Allies being interconnected with the communities where we serve.”

To that point, each of the seven regions where Memphis Allies provides programming has a community relations coordinator. The coordinator attends community meetings and makes essential contacts.

“Our team is on the ground daily,” said Jevonte Porter, community relations director for Memphis Allies. “It is important we’re building strong rapport. But it’s just as important we’re informed about what’s going on in the neighborhoods. Our community relations team has their ear to the ground.”

As Memphis Allies’ participants work through programming, they are eventually asked to engage their community — the community where they once did more harm than good.

In stage 3 of SWITCH (Support with Intention to Create Hope) programming, participants plan, organize and complete a Community Action Project.

By the time they come to us, they are at least entertaining the idea of change.

Jennifer Davis

Memphis Allies SWITCH program clinical supervisor

“Participants get to see the damage they had been doing to the community and try to do something about it,” said Debbie Thompson, community relations manager for Memphis Allies.

This could mean gathering school supplies for children, handing out coats in the winter or manning a grill at a summer cookout.

Often, Memphis Allies’ outreach and community relations teams work in tandem. While outreach specialists conduct a neighborhood canvass to reach those at the highest risk for gun violence, the community relations team will set up a table with flyers and merch.

Memphis Allies Staff
That table and the Memphis Allies branding, Thompson said, serves as a magnet. From April through August, the community relations team hosts at least one event most weekends. Often, these events include activities for children, such as a bounce house or a slide.

“There’s always someone who comes up to the table and says, `What if I know someone who could benefit from your program?’” Thompson said. “Or somebody who says, `I’ve been telling people about Memphis Allies.’

“We’re out there spreading the word. We really have a passion for what we are doing.”

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