Frayser

Frayser is one of the largest neighborhoods in Memphis, stretching north from the city’s urban core to the rural Shelby Forest across more than 20 square miles. It is one of the city’s most disinvested neighborhoods but is rich with community activism. The resident-led Frayser 2020 community revitalization plan is focused on growing youth, reducing crime, and investing in infrastructure and amenities while the annual Frayser Festival celebrates the community’s bright spots. Frayser is home to many small businesses as well as Nike’s $301 million distribution center.

L to R: Community Correspondents Ian Randolph, Ivy Arnold, and Monique Rials listen attentively to a conversation on journalist ethics lead by trainer, Micaela Watts. (Cat Evans)

Who tells the story? High Ground program trains Memphians to report their neighborhoods’ news

High Ground's new Community Contributors program takes passionate Memphians and gives them the skills to find and report stories that acknowledge their neighborhoods' struggles but focus on their resilience.  

Members of the Playback Memphis Youth Ensemble gave their first performance at the second annual Frayser Matters event. (Playback Memphis)
Playback Memphis debuts Frayser youth theater ensemble

Playback Memphis has developed improv theater programs for law enforcement, former inmates, businesses, neighborhoods and elementary schools. Now it's showcasing the talents of Frayser middle school students.

Frayser Local Arts Festival organizer Lurlynn Franklin stands next to two of five 'Welcome to Frayser' paintings. She designed the signs as paint-by-numbers and more than 700 Frayser residents had a hand in filling them in. (Arkwings Foundation)
Frayser Local Arts Festival is where to be this weekend

The Arkwings Foundation is hosting its first Frayser Local Arts Festival on October 5. The event features over 100 artists, live performances, demonstrations, exhibits and local food, art and products for purchase.

Podcast: Play Where You Stay is soccer made equitable

Ellen Roberds and Nibaruta Fidel with Play Where You Stay talk soccer, competition and how to make the game fun and accessible for all kids in any neighborhood, regardless of financial need.

Aylah Sanders participates in a tennis skills drill during Tennis Memphis' Family Play Day, held on August 3 at the city’s municipal tennis centers. (Tennis Memphis)
Tennis, everyone?

Memphis loves basketball, but could tennis be a new favorite sport in Tiger Town? Tennis Memphis and the City of Memphis are investing in tennis to make the sport more accessible and relatable for youth across the city.    

Guests of the Frayser CDC open house toured the homes and picked up literature for buying one of the three current homes or the 27 more that Frayser CDC hopes to build in the next two years. (Cole Bradley)
Frayser CDC unveils new homes, hopes for new momentum

Frayser CDC held an open house July 13 for three newly-built homes. They plan to build 30 over two years and hope the activity will increase home values, homeownership, community pride and new investment.

Podcast: State housing programs strengthen Memphis neighborhoods

Continuing a series on homeownership, Tennessee Housing Development Agency's Ralph Perrey and United Housing's Amy Schaftein talk down payment assistance programs, homebuyer education and other initiatives for Mid-South families. 

Stephanie Parker-Bradley and her daughter, Faith Bradley, celebrate after completing The Hagar Center 5K Fun Run. (Ashlei Williams)
Frayser nonprofit hosts its first 5K to benefit pregnant and parenting teens

The Hagar Center offers support for teen mothers in Memphis. On June 29 the center hosted its first 5K fundraiser in support of its Lunch and Learn workplace and life skills series. 

On the Ground Podcast: Agape summer camps take youth on around the world

Angela Garland and David Jordan dive into Agape's mission to keep kids out of foster care, reduce poverty and take youth from Frayser, Whitehaven and Hickory Hill around the world with a global curriculum.   

A young girl plays hide and seek in front of shuttered apartment buildings on Tate Street. (Andrea Morales)
Seeing Red I: Mapping 90 years of redlining in Memphis

This two part series explores how race built Memphis. From a newly discovered 1930s redlining map to recent lawsuits, discriminatory housing policies have kept Black families from home ownership and Black neighborhoods from thriving. 

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