We launched the Just Health Table!
The Just Health Table has been launched! This way we are enabling an open space for Health providers, non profit organizations, educators, community leaders and public employees to explore new ways to partner up in order to be able to offer better healthcare to more people in Memphis. The “Just Health Table” is one of the six components of the “Just C.H.A.N.G.E.” model , and it’s complemented by other similar tables that will address the following issues: Climate, Arts/Cultu
Black Lives Matter - CTC Response
The Center for Transforming Communities is deeply saddened and angered by the injustices black and brown people are experiencing in this country. As a social change organization, we center equity in all we do and challenge the status quo through our organizing and engagement practices. We stand with our communities in the fight against police brutality and demand justice for the victims and their families. In his book, Why We Can’t Wait, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “A social
COVID Update
COVID-19 Public Statement (Update: May 29, 2020) To our community residents, partners and other stakeholders, The Center for Transforming Communities continues to monitor the situation and plans to move at the speed of trust with our processes and policies around COVID-19. Staff and The Commons Building: As of May 29, 2020, all CTC staff will continue teleworking during weekdays. The Commons on Merton Building will continue to have limited access during weekdays and weekends.
The Myth of Normalcy - by Brooke Sarden
During this time, we all have wondered about when things will return to "normal". Check out this piece written by CTC staff'er, Brooke Sarden, our Youth and Cultural Programs Director in conjunction with Civic Saturdays. Click here to check out the full broadcast. Stay well. Stay safe. The Myth of Normalcy May we never forget the questions raised in the relative quiet: What is essential? What is not? Who is essential and who is not? How dare we ask that question? How dare we
COVID-19 Statement
To our community residents, partners and other stakeholders, The Center for Transforming Communities has felt the local impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on our communities. Like many of you, we are closely monitoring the situation and have taken the following measures to ensure the health and safety of our community residents and employees: Staff and The Commons Building: As of March 17, 2020, and for the duration of the coronavirus-related state of emergency in


CTC Names Justin Merrick as Next Executive Director
We're excited to announce that Justin Merrick has been named the next Executive Director of Center for Transforming Communities. Amy Moritz, current Executive Director, will guide the transition process. “The CTC Board has unanimously selected Justin Merrick to be our next Executive Director,” says Mary Jo Greil, Board Chairman. “In 2018, as CTC celebrates transitioning into its second decade, we needed a leader who has vision for how CTC will build upon and advance ten years


Binghampton Community Land Trust
Editors note: In the summer of 2018 CTC convened a group of Binghampton neighbors who were passionate about seeing development without displacement in their neighborhood. The Binghampton Community Land Trust was incorporated in August of 2018. Here Joni Laney, long-time resident of Binghampton, President of the Binghampton Community Land Trust and CTC Board Member, shares the story of the land trust and invites you to help this dream become a reality through a video contest!


Organizing for Action in the North Medical District
In 2017 the Memphis Medical District Collaborative (MMDC) contracted with Center for Transforming Communities (CTC) to lead community engagement efforts in an area of the Medical District north of Poplar Avenue, between Danny Thomas Blvd and I-240. This area is a patchwork of old residential, commercial, and industrial neighborhoods bisected by I-40 and has been, historically, defined by the Dixie Homes public housing project. Today, it is a low-income inner-city neighborhood


Name It + Claim It - The Power of Having Your Commitments Mailed to You
Today, I received a commitment card in the mail! It completely surprised me. I am accustomed to handing these out at Center for Transforming Communities (CTC) events, but I am not used to being given one and invited to think deeply about the commitment that a conference, speaker, or community gathering has inspired in me. In April 2018, I attended the Equity Summit hosted by Policy Link in Chicago with about 50 other people from Memphis. Over 4,000 people from around the co


Meet a Neighborhood Change-Maker: Joni Laney
Editors Note: Center for Transforming Communities (CTC) is grounded in the belief that every Memphis neighborhood includes people who have dreams for their neighborhood and who are willing to invest themselves in those dreams. Throughout 2018 we will profile some of these change-makers so you can get a glimpse of the incredible people CTC works alongside. This profile includes a Q&A with a long-time West Binghampton neighborhood leader, Joni. What is your connection to your n