ON A GOOD NOTE
TEXT BY COURTNEY MICKENS-JEFFERSON | PHOTO BY REGINALD JOHNSON
WHOLE CHILD. WHOLE FAMILY. WHOLE COMMUNITY. Smokey City and Klondike are two of the oldest neighborhoods in Memphis, with a rich history associated with civil rights leadership and school integration. Although these areas have a powerful past, their present state needs nurturing. Compared to the city as a whole, on a per capita basis the residents of Klondike and Smokey City experience twice as many criminal incidents, two and a half times as many violent crimes, and over three times as many homicides in their neighborhoods annually. Whole Child Strategies was conceived as a demonstration of the impact of government investment in neighborhoods and resident leadership. Founded in 2017, the organization is arguably the only nonprofit in Memphis that focuses on out-of-school barriers to educational attainment by partnering with community 82 | At Home Memphis & Mid South • June 2023
stakeholders to address the root causes of these barriers in the streets, neighborhoods and networks where they arise. The majority of the factors that impact a child’s school attendance, behavior and academic success come from outside the school building. Whole Child Strategies’ approach is unique in that it tackles the external barriers that hinder children from arriving at school every day, engaged and ready to learn, with them, beside them and behind them. The organization partners with Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) to transport Smokey City and Klondike residents out of their food deserts to fresh produce every week through the Residents on the Move program. WCS hosts town hall meetings to unmute their voices to find community-led solutions and partners with the Memphis Medical District Collaborative to provide free job training for parents and employment opportunities at Methodist, Le Bonheur and St. Jude. The group has worked with partner organizations to offer free community grief counseling and much more. A whole child requires a whole family, and a whole family requires a whole community.