Neighborhood and city leaders announced a third Better Community Summit Wednesday, May 4, as part of an ongoing effort to reduce violent crime throughout Memphis, which hit record homicide levels in 2020 and 2021.

Among the communities most affected by violent crime are Frayser, South Memphis and North Memphis, where this summit will be held. 

The leaders, some of whom spoke as their voices cracked and with tears in their eyes, talked about rising crime rates and how the upcoming June 4 summit will provide a space for members of affected communities to meet with and seek resources from from clergy leaders, nonprofit organizations, law enforcement and government agencies. 

Better Community Summit to address violent crime

“Change takes courage,” said DeAndre Brown, executive director of the reentry programs LifeLine to Success and the Shelby County Office of Reentry. “And we’ve accepted violence as normal. It’s frustrating because we complain, but we refuse to take action. This … can have a ripple effect. But it takes people having the courage to come out of their homes to an event to learn how to engage in a way that makes our community safer.”

The goal of the summit is to encourage the community to be aware of the many resources available to combat issues such as domestic violence, conflicts, marital issues and gang involvement. The event will also serve as a “one stop shop” where community members can receive free counseling and other services, like housing assistance, job placement, GED training and HIV testing.

The two previous quarterly Better Community Summits were held in Frayser and South Memphis in November 2021 and February 2022. This event is hosted by Joseph C. Murphy Jr., the U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, along with the Memphis Police Department, nonprofit organizations, clergy and community stakeholders. 

Wednesday’s speakers represented participating organizations and agencies including Neighborhood Christian Centers, Crosstown Redevelopment Cooperative, Memphis Medical District Collaborative, Greater Community Temple Church of God In Christ, T Mitchell Consulting and MPD.

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Brown is one of three program facilitators in addition to Rev. Ricky Floyd of the Pursuit of God Transformation Center and Charlie Caswell, executive director of Legacy of Legends CDC. 

Murphy said the idea of the Better Community Summit first came from a conversation in a parking lot. 

“This really had its genesis in a discussion in the parking lot with (MPD) Chief (Paul) Wright, Pastor Floyd, Pastor Charlie Caswell and myself, and we talked about, what can we do? What concrete thing can we do to reduce violent crime? And this is what we came up (with),” Murphy said. 

The first summit, in Frayser, was meant to target the community in that neighborhood, but leaders quickly realized that it was needed in other communities as well.

“At first, when it was done, it was considered a Frayser thing,” Floyd said. “But now people see that this is a citywide movement.”

Floyd said domestic violence increased 90% as a result of the pandemic. As a “domestic violence overcomer,” he and his wife now travel the country coaching couples on navigating themselves out of domestic violence and other marital and communication issues. 

But while he can help the community with these types of issues, he said it is important to use each of the organizers’ many gifts and talents to turn the community around. 

“You’ve got the pastors, the politicians, the principals, the partners, the parishioners and the parents all working together to make it a better place to live, lead, laugh and love,” Floyd said.

The summit will be a safe place for people, even those with warrants out for their arrests, who are looking for free counseling and resources with continuous follow-up services offered afterward.

The ultimate hope is that the event will help address the root issues that lead people to a life of crime.

“Sometimes, we don’t do deterrence very well,” Bishop Brandon Porter of Greater Community Temple COGIC said. “Punishment without correction is abuse. And so when you bring all of these factors together, we have a holistic approach to bring unity to our community. And we know it takes a village.”

The summit will be June 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Neighborhood Christian Center, 785 Jackson Ave. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. Two other quarterly summits will be held in August and November.