MISSION POSSIBLE
Reducing Gun Violence in Memphis
When Memphis Allies began operations, our goal of reaching those at the highest risk for gun violence put us at ground zero in earning trust.
That was more than three years ago, and trust came the way it always does: one day at a time, one relationship at a time. By maintaining a steadfast presence in the community, Memphis Allies showed its commitment to reducing gun violence and to offering a path for people to lead productive, peaceful lives.
Carl Davis
Managing Director of Operations
Susan Deason Executive Director
The foundation of Memphis Allies is our program model, SWITCH (Support with Intention to Create Hope). Participants gain access to a life coach, case manager and clinical specialist — a whole team to walk alongside them and help them take charge of their lives. Since launching in 2022, 91% of our participants have not had a new gun charge and the city’s homicide rate has steadily decreased. But there is much work left to do in order to create a lasting impact, which is best illustrated through the lives of our participants, like Jamie.
Before Memphis Allies, Jamie thought his life only had two destinations: prison or a graveyard. As a participant in SWITCH, he learned essential life skills, rooting him in accountability and giving him the encouragement to move forward from his past. Today, he is employed and receiving management training from his company’s CEO. You’ll hear more from him and others on
the frontlines in this year’s report.
Like Jamie’s journey to finding hope beyond the violence, Memphis Allies demonstrates there is a path toward making Memphis safer for all. This past year, we expanded our SWITCH and SWITCH Youth programming to serve around 500 people daily, and we are aiming for 1,000. While we serve youth across the city, our adult program serves Raleigh/Frayser, Orange Mound, Hickory Hill, South Memphis and Whitehaven. Other neighborhoods will be added soon.
This work demands everything we have, and some days, it takes even more. One of the most heartbreaking moments this year occurred when gun violence came right to our doorstep, taking the life of one participant and injuring several others. The grief over any life lost to senseless violence never fades, but neither does our resolve. We will press forward because even one life lost to gun violence is too many.
Toney, Training Manager
Cody Brown, Vocational and Educational Manager
HOPE BEYOND THE VIOLENCE
Stopping shootings and keeping dreams alive
Every large American city keeps a count of lives taken by gun violence.
But what about the shots never fired?
“It is impossible to put a number on the shootings you prevent,” said Carl Davis, managing director of operations for Memphis Allies. “But every time we successfully mediate a dangerous conflict, we know we have saved a life in those situations.”
Nationwide data consistently shows that, on average,
one shooting leads to four more due to retaliation. Memphis Allies staff work with around 500 people daily. Creating hope through the SWITCH program begins with the first moment of engagement. Jamie, who was ganginvolved and faced felony gun charges, has progressed through SWITCH programming. While he still works
Trevon
Memphis Allies’ SWITCH and SWITCH
Youth participants are identified as being at the highest risk for gun violence, which means one or more of the following factors is true:
* Involved in a gang/group/clique
* Recently shot/shot at
* Had a family member/friend recently shot/shot at
* Has a history of criminal justice interaction
* Has not completed high school
* Currently unemployed
Everybody is like family. Nobody treats their job like a job.
with his clinical team, Jamie is employed, and
because he has shown leadership potential, he is being personally trained by the company’s CEO for a management position.
“Everybody is like family,” Jamie said of Memphis Allies staff. “Nobody treats their job like a job.” Outreach specialists and life coaches typically come from the neighborhoods where they work and share lived experiences. It’s what gives them LTO — or license to operate — in the community. When Memphis Allies started, Training Manager Trevon Toney said those on the ground had “individual LTO.” Three years later, Toney now acknowledges, “We have organizational LTO.”
Through programming, participants learn how to manage personal relationships and maintain them with essential decision-making skills. A participant in his 30s, “Gary” credits Vocational and Educational Manager Cody Brown with teaching him to “hit the pause button” before acting out.
Now removed from gun violence culture and equipped with new tools to navigate his daily life, Gary has followed his passion for cooking through culinary classes. “I’m learning how to run a kitchen... My biggest dream is to run a restaurant,” he said, eyes brightening. “I can feel it. I’m closer than I’ve ever been.”
VERSED in the struggle
A gun is just a means to an end. In fact, at age 19, it enabled Tito Porter to have his own place.
“My first apartment on my own was a jail cell,” he said. That was a long time ago.
Today, Porter, 39, works as an outreach supervisor, supporting SWITCH participants every day. Often, participants are gangaffiliated, undereducated and unemployed.
They share something else, too: a hope deficit.
“These guys have nothing to lose, so it’s easy for them to shoot somebody,” Porter said, as he showed off the garage where he teaches participants skills such as how to sand and paint a car and change oil. “Starting out, they have nothing to take pride in.”
When Porter was released from prison, he avoided trouble by working any job he
could, from chopping wood for $8 an hour to cutting hair on his front porch. Like Porter, SWITCH participants also need a way to make a legitimate living.
But first, they need to believe it is possible — to have genuine hope for a better future, and to have someone who has faced the same challenges listen to them.
“I’m well-versed in the struggle,” Porter said. “You can unintentionally speak over their heads. Sometimes, you might have to just say, ‘That’s (messed) up.’ And it just might connect.”
Combined with the clinical therapy component of Memphis Allies, which provides an opportunity for participants to address their trauma and improve decision making, participants with marketable abilities can begin to leave the guns and gangs behind.
“Skills like these... you can’t take away from them,” Porter said. “That’s enough to make a guy say, ‘That’s worth it. I’ve got something going that’s mine.’”
That’s enough to make a guy say, “That’s worth it.” 7
Terranze Sharp
A passion for PAYING IT Forward
At age 15, Terranze Sharp faced an adrenaline-fueled choice: What should he do about this grown man who appeared ready to kill his friend and fellow gang member?
In an instant, Sharp squeezed the gun’s trigger in his hand. He took a man’s life and paid for that choice by spending 28 years in prison. The presence of programs like Memphis Allies, he said, might have changed everything.
“I’d have been open to it back then,” said Sharp, a Milwaukee native.
Today, he is a SWITCH Youth team supervisor. “When you have somebody who has been through the same life experiences and you know they’re sincere, it will break down any barrier a person has.”
Sharp stresses to young people that they don’t have to abide by what street code seems to mandate, adding, “You always have the right to choose. You choose the quality of your life by making the right decisions in the critical moments in your life.”
In prison, Sharp decided to make a change. He began reading and eventually developed a more positive mindset. When he was released at age 43, he was committed to becoming the mentor he never had.
While Memphis Allies is reaching hundreds of people each day, making a life-changing impact is rooted in one-on-one relationships like the ones Sharp forms with SWITCH Youth participants.
“A lot of these guys want to make real changes, but they don’t know how,” Sharp said.
“I preach this to everybody — life coaches, outreach, whoever: we celebrate the small wins.
“If you reach one, that ripples and you reach others. If you show them you care, they will respond.”
If you show them you care, they will respond.
THE CLINICAL COMPONENT
Facing trauma and moving forward
At age 17, “Jaden” entered Memphis Allies’ SWITCH Youth program facing an aggravated robbery charge and having just lost a brother in a fatal shooting. The last thing he wanted to do? Talk about it.
“He was really quiet, kind of hard to figure out,” said Life Coach Briant Kelly. “It took six or seven months before he would get into the details about what happened with his brother... He didn’t know who to trust.”
Over time, Jaden learned he had people he could trust: Kelly and other Memphis Allies staff members, including Clinical Specialist Naomi Haynes.
Working as a team, they helped Jaden not only navigate challenges but also face his personal trauma and to learn how to move forward. The adult SWITCH program operates the same, with one-on-one and group clinical sessions essential to the process.
Jaden was fortunate. His robbery charge was dismissed. He finished high school and got a full-time job. But his past gang involvement left him potentially vulnerable. A peer identified someone involved in his brother’s death. The opportunity to seek revenge was right in front of Jaden.
Yet, he walked away.
Jaden later told Kelly, “I appreciate the things you’ve taught me because I’m not even going to entertain that.”
For Haynes, this confirmed what she was seeing: a
“All the kids have a safety plan,” she said, “but Jaden is smart about how to remove himself from potentially dangerous situations. He has coping mechanisms for his anger.”
He will need them. People from his old life still come around to offer a way back in. “I’ve seen him tell a guy no to his face and say, ‘Hey, let’s go fill out some work applications,’” Kelly said.
Haynes is optimistic about Jaden’s future: “He would be a great fit as a mentor. I look forward to seeing
Briant Kelly Life Coach, SWITCH Youth
Naomi Haynes Clinical Specialist
I look forward to seeing the person he becomes.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER
When a person is on the verge of retaliation, a phone call can be a lifeline.
Brian and Brandon Mathis TWINS
Renardo Baker
“I Shall Not Die But Live!”
Nobody can do this work by themselves.
“Some of these guys have called their life coaches in a moment of crisis,” said Carl Davis, managing director of operations for Memphis Allies. “That’s an instance where we are preventing the next shooting.”
It’s an example of how vital communication is among all those in Memphis working in this space.
From its inception, Memphis Allies has relied on strong community partnerships. “Everybody doesn’t identify the same, but everybody is making the same effort,” said Brandon Mathis, co-founder of TWINS.
Durell Cowan, executive director of Heal 901, added, “What we have developed in Memphis is a robust intervention ecosystem. The establishment of the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement (a City of Memphis/Shelby County collaborative) shows we’re serious about addressing public safety through the lens of community involvement.”
Eric Watkins, founder and president of Red Door Urban Missions, agreed. He also lauded the choice of Valerie Matthews as director of the Joint Office.
“She’s the right person,” Watkins said. “I’ve seen her in the trenches.” While Memphis has much work left to do, homicides have trended down over the last two years.
“That lets you know something is being done in the right way,” said Delvin Lane, executive director of 901 BLOC Squad.
This work also includes valuable prevention and wraparound services provided by trusted nonprofits, such as Neighborhood Christian Centers and the Christopher A. Pugh II Center.
Renardo Baker, founder of “I Shall Not Die But Live,” perhaps illustrated the unified mission best. “Let’s show the strength and power of doing this work together,” he said. “Because nobody can do this work by themselves.”
Eric Watkins
Red Door Urban Missions
Our Community Allies
901 BLOC Squad
A Better Whitehaven
A Step Ahead Foundation
Africa in April Cultural
Awareness Festival, Inc.
Agape
Allstar Training Academy
American Job Center
BEVO Boys Fitness Academy
Big Homie
Bluff City Express
The Braid Foundation
The Braylon Murray Project
The Brotherhood B2M
BSOY Foundation, Inc.
Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO)
The Check-In Memphis
The Christopher A. Pugh II Center
City of Memphis
City of Memphis Housing and Community Development Division
City Year Memphis
The Collective Blueprint
Craigmont High School
Cynthia Daniels & Co.
Da Sammich Spot Resource Hub
Eagle Eye Security & Training
Echols Catering
EcOp (Economic Opportunities)
Elite Performance Foundation
The Excel Center
F.A.T.H.E.R.S. Organization
Families Matter: AFIRM
For The Kingdom
Forever Staying Positive
The Frayser Connect Center
Frayser Community PTSA
Frayser Urban Community Garden
Golden Institute
Goodwill Memphis
The GRADUS Project
Grind City Cares
Guns Down Orange Mound
The Hands of Rozay Foundation
Heal 901
Heal the Hood Foundation
Healing World Counseling Center
The Heart of Hickory Hill
Heartfelt Moments
Hope and Healing Collaborative
Hope City Church
Hope Works
“I Shall Not Die But Live!”
Impact Ministries
Inspire Memphis
Jeffers Lawncare & Landscape
Jobs for the Future (JFF)
Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement
Junior League of Memphis
Kirby High School
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital
Leadership Tennessee
Leading in Life Enterprise
Legacy of Legends CDC
LIA House, Inc.
Lilac Impact Services
Love Works, Inc.
Melrose High School
Memphis Athletic Ministries
Memphis Botanic Gardens
Memphis Electrical
Memphis Essential Millennials
Memphis Juneteenth Festival
Memphis Lift
Memphis Parks
Memphis Public Libraries
Memphis Police Department
Memphis Shelby County Schools
Memphis Shelby Police Activities League
Memphis Urban League
Memphis Virtual School
Mid-South Christian College
Mid-South Food Bank
Millionaire Grind
Mobile Homeless Ministry
Moms Demand Action
My City Rides
NAACP Memphis Branch
Narrow Path Ministries
National Civil Rights Museum
Neighborhood Christian Centers, Inc.
North Frayser Community Center
One Accord Ministries
One Glory Athletic Association
Operation Taking Back 901
Orange Mound Arts Council
Orange Mound Collaborative Group
Orange Mound Library
Orange Mound Outreach Ministries
Orange Mound Parade Committee
The Original Project Team
Overton Park Shell
Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America
Playback Memphis
Porter-Leath
Progeny Place
Project STAND
PURE Academy
The Pursuit Center
Raleigh-Egypt High School
Red Door Urban Missions
RedZone Ministries
Regional One Health
Repairers of the Breach Christian Church
Restoration Time Family and Youth Services
S & K Gaming Center
SchoolSeed Foundation
Shelby County Chapter of The Links, Inc.
Shelby County Government
Shelby County Juvenile Court
Shelby County Office of Reentry
Shop Open Barber Shop
Simply Rose CPR Safety N.E.T.
Southern Security Federal Credit Union
Southwest Tennessee Community College
SOW Community Outreach
The S.O. What! Foundation
State of Tennessee
Stop the Killing Cut The Beef
Temperature Control Institute
Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT)
Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs
TONE
TWINS Inc.
Unite Memphis
Urban Arts Council
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC)
WEE Care Juvenile Success
Westside Middle School
Women’s Foundation for Greater Memphis
Xcelente Trucking
YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South
Young Actors Guild
Young Man University
Youth Justice and Education Center
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Critical to the gun violence intervention mission
Gun violence intervention, the core mission of Memphis Allies and the topic of the third annual Breakthrough Conference, is at the epicenter of the effort to make neighborhoods and cities safer. And yes, that work takes a village.
“It’s vital to have strong relationships with local stakeholders,” said Jevonte Porter, director of community relations for Memphis Allies. “We have to raise awareness and scale up, and part of that is having a voice in the national conversation.”
Both Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Memphis Mayor Paul Young spoke at
this year’s Breakthrough Conference, with Young saying, “We’re a resilient community, and I believe Memphis can be an example of how to get it right.”
Keynote speaker Melvyn Hayward, senior director of gang reduction and youth development for the City of Los Angeles, predicted a drop in Memphis crime in the coming years. According to the FBI, the number of homicides in the first half of 2023 and 2025 was 167 and 125 respectively, refectling a 25% decrease. But, more progress is needed. “The ecosystem takes time, people
take time...” Hayward said.
Which is why community connections are so critical. Porter says Memphis Allies’ relationships with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and Regional One Health are crucial to making early contact with gunshot victims and starting intervention services. Those efforts, Porter notes, must pair with prevention work done by other nonprofits and faith leaders.
The
ecosystem takes time, people take time.
Breakthrough Conference
HEROES ON THE FRONTLINES
Some first responders carry fire hoses; others carry stethoscopes. And still others walk into tough places and rely on their reputations and street smarts.
“I Shall Not Die But Live!”
Marlon Stewart
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Lolitha Barbee
Outreach specialists and life coaches are nothing less than frontline heroes. They come from the places where they now try to reach those most at risk for gun violence, helping them find a new trajectory to better lives.
At the 2025 Breakthrough Conference presented by Memphis Allies, seven staff were recognized with Frontline Hero Awards. Whitney Williams, a Memphis Allies outreach supervisor in Frayser, was one of them. Carl Davis, managing
director of operations, presented Williams with her award and knows her well.
In fact, Davis remembers when she was still deeply grieving the murder of her brother. Williams had been gang-affiliated, and her first thought was to take matters into her own hands.
Thankfully, she didn’t.
“My revenge,” she said, “is working for Memphis Allies.” But that’s not all. If Williams were to meet the person who killed her brother
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital
Lydia Walker
(it remains a cold case), she says she would want to get that person into Memphis Allies programming. Davis was observing a staff orientation meeting the first time he heard her say that.
“I literally got chills,” he said.
The truth is that for those who do this critical work, the old life is never far away. Durell Cowan, founder and executive director of Heal 901, presented a Frontline Hero Award to Dedrick Chism, citing his ability to keep the past at bay while reaching out to young gang members. “It takes a strong person to be a living example of change,” Cowan said.
In the 1980s, James Ayers co-founded a gang in Memphis and spent time in prison. Now, he too is a Frontline Hero Award winner.
“He came out with a heart to change lives,” said Delvin Lane, 901 BLOC Squad’s executive director. “He does it every day with the greatest of intensity.”
Frontline heroes recognized at the Breakthrough Conference along with the presenting organization.
Shelby County Division of Community Services
Mireya Cortez
Dedrick Chism
BLOC Squad
James Ayers
Memphis Allies Whitney Williams
Memphis Allies and partners
ENGAGING ONE BLOCK AT A TIME
Memphis Allies’ mission to reduce gun violence is carried out daily in the city’s neighborhoods — sometimes when there is trouble and other times to simply meet people where they are. Sometimes all it takes is to share some food, a conversation and a laugh. Other times, it may look like providing a bouncy house and a water slide for the neighborhood kids on a hot summer day.
Breaking bread together can be a start, a more laid-back way to have a first conversation with someone at high risk for involvement in gun violence.
“It might take another six months to get someone into programming,” said
Renardo Baker, founder of “I Shall Not Die But Live!” in Orange Mound and a Memphis Allies implementing partner. “But this is an introduction, the building of a relationship.”
Also, a midday community awareness event, such as the one Baker recently held in Orange Mound, provides an opportunity to meet other people in a non-adrenaline-rich situation, creating easier communication and connection. For someone involved in gang life, an event like this offers a chance to pause for a moment, enjoy a hot dog fresh off the grill or a cold snow cone, and do so in a safe environment.
“We could be back out here doing a canvass after a shooting,” said Antonio Dowdy, a Memphis Allies outreach specialist. “You come and meet somebody in their area before, that’s respect.” And respect is foundational to community credibility and, in turn, community impact.
“It’s about relentless engagement,” Baker said, wiping sweat from his brow and confessing he was already on his second snow cone. “[It’s about] being on the block where they are.”
1. Memphis Allies Welcomed to 901 FC
2. Visiting Luke Weathers Flight Academy
3. Whitehaven Gun Violence Awareness Day
4. MAMA’s Day
5. Whitehaven Pre-Spring Cleanup
6. MLK Day at the National Civil Rights Museum
7. Back in Da Books Event
8. Christmas Parade
FRAYSER RALEIGH
DOWNTOWN
BINGHAMPTON
Deepening our impact
We’ve come a long way since opening our first office in Frayser in 2022. What began as a bold initiative to reduce gun violence is now gaining momentum — broadening our reach and, most importantly, deepening our impact. Every day, more lives are being saved, and more individuals are choosing brighter, more hopeful futures. As our work expands, so does the need for sustained resources and continued support. Creating a safer Memphis requires unwavering commitment — and this journey is only just beginning.
AREAS SERVED
91%
of SWITCH and SWITCH Youth participants have not received a new gun charge while in services.
1,230
347 total served since launch in FY22 served in SWITCH ( 118% from FY24) served in SWITCH Youth ( 59% from FY24)
FY25
417
*Includes individuals in programming and active outreach. Each FY is July 1 - June 30.
Sustaining a growing mission
As Memphis Allies expanded to serve around 500 people daily and employed more than 200 dedicated professionals, the city’s homicide rate went down. Providing life-changing services to those individuals at the highest risk for gun violence is making a significant impact. While we are making progress, the mission is not finished. Far from it.
In fact, our aim is to reach 1,000 individuals each day with our transformative services that include life coaching and clinical therapy. We are extremely appreciative of our partners, as well as the private philanthropy and public funding we’ve received from the city, county and state.
Long-term investment is crucial for Memphis Allies’ positive impact to continue evolving. The cause is more than worthy: a safer Memphis where our children, families, neighborhoods and businesses can thrive together. Please join us in working together for a stronger Memphis!
Learn how you can be a part of a safer, stronger Memphis. Visit memphisallies.org
— Patrick Lawler, Youth Villages CEO
