A Community Clothed in Compassion

Community Clothes Closet of the South Memphis Shalom Zone

I had the opportunity to shadow Center for Transforming Communities (CTC) Director, Amy Moritz, on a Friday afternoon in February in the South Memphis Shalom Zone. In the prior week I had begun learning about the community group capacity building and sustainable social change work that CTC engages in, so this opportunity to see the fruit of such labor was a  welcomed one. Amy invited me to join her on a visit to the community’s Clothes Closet and we were sincerely welcomed by several volunteers, including Toni Hines who has a lead role in the operation of the Clothes Closet. Stepping further into the store, we could see several customers being escorted around the store and warmly assisted with selecting items. I could see that people were comfortable there and the volunteers were enthusiastic about the work they were doing. Ms. Hines gave us a tour, discussed daily operations, and shared with us some potential opportunities for growth.

 

The South Memphis Shalom Zone Community Clothes Closet is located on the property of Centenary United Methodist Church (UMC). Six churches constitute this Shalom Zone but Centenary UMC, Greater White Stone, and Greater New Salem are central to the operation of this service project.  First conceptualized in August 2012, the Clothes Closet has been operating since June 2013 and has served 300 people.  Community members are welcome to “shop” at the Clothing Closet on Monday or Friday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  People from any neighborhood in Memphis can visit once per month and will be greeted by a volunteer to assist them with shopping for their one dress outfit, two tops, two bottoms and incidental items.

The work that most significantly impacts the community around the Clothes Closet is being noticed from afar. Donors include church members as well as unaffiliated individuals.  Ms. Hines stated that they have donations waiting at the door or have “donations made by people who have just heard about what we do.” The Clothes Closet is also on a referral list for the local Red Cross, and as a result, this Shalom Zone has been able to assist families that needed clothing due to the tragedy of a fire. Although the Clothes Closet has mainly served people within the community of the project site, Ms. Hines expressed a desire to expand their reach as well as improve operations and add services.

Due to the efforts of the supporting churches, various donors and about 20 regular volunteers, those in need of clothing have a welcoming place to have their need met in South Memphis. Desiring to address more than just immediate needs, Ms. Hines and other volunteers are having intentional conversations about how to grow their services to meet the underlying needs of their patrons. This Shalom Zone hopes to be able to     facilitate seminars for patrons focusing on topics like personal budgeting and how to get rights reinstated post incarceration.

Through this visit, I was able to see the Shalom principles in the work of those involved with the Clothes Closet and in the project itself. This shadowing experience gave me a greater appreciation for the capacity building support that CTC provides Shalom Zones in the Mid-South as well as the power of compassionate community group.

Author: Sydney D. McGhee

Sydney will be graduating in May with a Master of Public Administration from the University of Memphis.  She is passionate about service and social change.

Millennials Engaging in the Work of Neighborhoods

Perspectives from the next generation on community building

Much has been stated about the leveraging power of the emerging generation known as Millennials, occasionally referred to as Generation Y. This group of twenty-somethings has illustrated significant influence in determining the status of elections, impacting economic growth, and shaping the future of technology. They often are credited with fueling social media movements all around the world.

Center for Transforming Communities (CTC) recently sat down with the millennial members of its' team, Ian Preston and McKenna Lewellen, as they engage in neighborhood work as extensions of their academic experiences. Their thoughtful perspectives offer CTC the means to perpetuate powerful philosophy and enactment that moves our city and region forward. 

Springboarding children to go as high as they can go

Their hospitality was refreshing, captivating even. After an unexpected, delightful lunch in their South Memphis home William and Geraldine Downey took the opportunity to share from a colorful lens of history regarding their enduring connection to their beloved neighborhood.

Both of them speak fondly of their childhood years in South Memphis and now some fifty plus (50+) years later they find themselves helping to shape the quality of life for children there today. Mr. and Mrs. Downey actively engage in the South Memphis neighborhood through their connection to a local congregation (Christ Quest) and a successful after-school tutoring program (Knowledge Quest). As residents within the South Memphis Shalom Zone, they bring their entire selves to creating a community of belonging among neighbors and nurturing the potential and capabilities of each child.

Whether it's helping the neighborhood prepare for the next holiday, coaching baseball or  simply loving  their neighborhood  and all of  its members, you will find the Downeys filling the gaps with hope through their generosity and selfless service.  As part of the interview they discuss assets within their community and the sense of promise on the horizon. This power to courageously forecast inspires them to continue in their service for their neighborhood that has weathered its' fair share of changes.

Our conversation reveals that their stewardship and partnership within the community resonates with principles of shalom. Over time they have emerged as community parents and pillars of stability for hundreds. This way of living...existing in the world produces community in real, tangible ways.

Why could Nov. 14 be a good day for Memphis?

Pastor Marlon Foster shares his excitement

The countdown is on to what could be a turning-point for Memphis, Nov. 14, when more than 300 people will gather to think and talk and make plans around pulling their city to a new greatness.

If that sounds highly aspirational, that is just what it is, although there are “feet on the ground” behind this dreaming.

The people and ideas out of which this dream arises include the Center for Transforming Communities, which has been working in Memphis for more than 20 years, and is spearheading the Nov. 14 event.

The asset-based community development (ABCD) which will be integral to the gathering has been at the center of CTC’s work and is yielding the results it’s intended to. That is, people in neighborhoods are realizing their gifts, seeing new possibilities and taking ownership for the changes they want to see happen. These results have been documented in Memphis, as well as in many other places that have introduced ABCD.

In addition to bringing together people from across greater Memphis, the Nov. 14 event will see author and community advocate Peter Block, ABCD thought leader John McKnight, and Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann join the conversation.

Marlon Foster is pastor of Christ Quest Community Church in Memphis, one of the many faith-based organizations participating in the event.

He says he is seeing great possibilities in the day for a number of reasons, amongst those the fact that there will be such a broad cross-section of the Memphis community participating.

He has also been privy to some of the specific plans for the day, and says those are getting him excited, too, knowing how carefully every part of it is being considered, even down to moments for reflection.

“I think the intentionality of the day is going to offer so many possibilities, it’s going to offer newness, it’s going to make room for creativity,” Marlon says.

Having Peter, John and Walter guiding the conversation will also be powerful, he foresees. He shares his vision of them essentially offering what he calls a “tap on the shoulder,” an invitation to consider this or that insight or piece of wisdom, and “then backing away to allow us to engage one another as a Memphis community.”

Marlon says the best that could happen through the event next week is that people make new commitments and see specific ways they can join in or start new efforts that shine a light on their own neighborhood’s gifts and help people in them see new possibilities. The ultimate result would be those same people then together taking ownership for whatever happens in their neighborhoods going forward.

- Michelle Strutzenberger -

To learn more about the Nov. 14 event, click here.

Feel free to comment on this story below, or e-mail michelle@axiomnews.ca.

Sowing the Seeds of Community

Bonds are formed in a community garden

Part way through an interview discussing his experience with urban renewal and community building, Christian Man, puts the journalist on hold.

During a learning unit on Fall production.

“I’ve just got to deliver these groceries,” he says, and in the muffled distance he can be heard discussing the upcoming harvest feast with a fellow named Walter, who must be part of the Green Leaf Learning Farm’s community garden project.
 
Walter is on the hook for some sweet-potato pie, it seems, and in both of their voices rings the sound of enthusiasm.

The harvest feast is shaping up to be a pretty good time where the community can come together and honor each other’s hard work and the relationships that have been sown in the neighborhood’s garden.
 
Christian is very much looking forward to it.
 
As an eager student, Christian has been working with Rev. Marlon Foster and Knowledge Quest, which has operated the learning farm project since 2010. Through this work, he is connected to Communities of Shalom and the Center for Transforming Communities.
 
His undergraduate studies focused on community economic development, but his real learning has come through the friendships he’s forged through his work in south Memphis.

Times are tough for people in the neighborhood where Christian walks, but in them he sees resilience and a capacity through togetherness that speaks loudly of possibilities and community transformation.
 
He’s come alongside these new friends as he tills earth, breaks bread, and learns what it means to come together for a common purpose.
 
The co-operative spirit grows in the garden alongside fresh vegetables, and though purse strings are tight for many people, among their neighbors they find an abundance of generosity and connectivity.
 
“There’s a history of this; I’m involved in the most recent chapter but in no way is this my thing,” Christian says.
 
“It’s our thing.”
 
The garden has become a gathering point for people to share their stories, he says.
 
“It's a physical space that helps generate reflection about what’s actually going on and then what that activity reminds us of, historically, and that bonds us in some way.”

On Oct. 20 about 75 people will come together to share a meal and the bounty of the relationships they’ve built, and Christian is thankful to be a part of it.

Visit Facebook for more information about the party.

By Kristian Partington, Axiom News
Photo courtesy of Focusforthegood.org

Honoring all voices in community transformation

Community organically happens in South Memphis

When all voices carry equal weight in the rebuilding of community, and everyone’s assets are valued, remarkable things can happen.

South Memphis Shalom Zone Team (Marlon Foster - right)

For more than two years, a groundswell of community-building efforts has been building in the streets of South Memphis, led by a team of dedicated volunteers who choose to look at the abundant gifts on offer in the neighborhood beyond the many challenges there.

The team is driven by faith and the concept of Shalom, which says the path to well being and peace is paved in efforts to create a better life for one’s neighbor. South Memphis is one of eight Shalom Zones under the Communities of Shalom initiative, a major focus of the Center for Transforming Communities (CTC).

Pastor Marlon Foster of the Christ Quest Community Church influences efforts in the South Memphis Shalom Zone, and says what drew him to the effort was belief in the transformative power possible in taking the heart of ministry beyond the walls of a building and into the streets and neighborhoods.

They don’t impose their sense of what’s needed in the community. Instead they invite everyone to be a part of this transformation, and Marlon testifies to seeing people of all walks of life coming together in the past two years in ways he never imagined before.

So what is the strategy behind the success?

“In many regards it’s being open to not having a strategy,” Marlon says. “It becomes more of a process or a way of being and I think along those lines. It’s the spirit of humility, the spirit of openness, the spirit of being willing to learn — a spirit of wanting to come alongside.”

He’s seen firsthand the wealthy coming alongside the poor to work towards a common purpose of asset-based community development that is beyond monetary economics.

“This type of diversity, of socio-economics and many times of race and class that we’re able to experience — this I think really makes it an awesome place,” Marlon says.

“Everyone has voice. Everyone is seen as an asset and has something to contribute. Your voice gives you a sense of power and belonging and place and when that part happens, I think you really begin to start seeing community form.

“It becomes what I feel is a communal gathering of mutual belief, and when you get to that place of mutuality then you’re really at a point where community organically happens.”

By Kristian Partington, Axiom News