Memphis Mayor Paul Young and members of the Blight Zero team filed into a bus and rode to the sites of several active or recent demolitions on Friday, Sept. 20.

That morning, structures were demolished and debris was removed from derelict structures. Sites included 2930 Chelsea Ave.; Memphis Tire Recyclers, 1566 Havana St.; 1488 Tayner St.; 1548 Ellington St.; 1560 Willis St.; 1725 Orr St. and 3041 Heard St.

City divisions, including Solid Waste Management and Public Works, will support demolition and cleaning efforts to reduce blight across the city through this new initiative.

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“We understand that this is going to take a host of actions to get our community where we want it to be, but this is a start,” Young said at a press conference before the bus tour.

“We want to do this all throughout the city where communities have been looking for solutions.” 

Memphis Police Department Interim Chief CJ Davis and Memphis Fire Department Chief Gina Sweat were present as Young announced the initiative.

“We are out here tackling these problems one block at a time, but the most important thing, also, is to have our community members take part in what clean Memphis looks like, what a crime-free Memphis looks like,” Davis said.

Residents and faith leaders of the Douglass community in North Memphis voiced their support.

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“My neighbors are suffering, especially my elder neighbors,” said Vanessa Luellen, board chair of One Douglass, a community effort to promote neighborhood revitalization and community service in Douglass. “Children can’t come outside to play because we’re afraid they gonna get hurt in some way, not just in crime but in playing in areas that can cause them harm. So we turned to the city for help.”

Built in 1940, the condemned seven-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 1560 Willis St. was one of the first stops the bus traveled to on Friday morning. 

Before the crane touched the home, the roof had partially caved in, several of the doors were ajar, and weeds poured out of holes from the cracked walls. 

Another property on Young’s Blight Zero map, 2930 Chelsea Ave., backs directly up to Greater First Baptist Church on Warford Street. For nearly a decade, the abandoned home, riddled with trash and hidden behind 15 overgrown trees, was parallel to the church’s parking lot. 

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Cecil Brown, a pastor of Greater First Baptist Church, said the home was a hotspot for drug activity and sexual violence. 

Davis said there is “direct correlation” between blight and crime. 

“Vacant and/or dilapidated houses are sometimes utilized for all kinds of illicit activities, whether it’s drugs or prostitution,” she said. 

Through Blight Zero, this property and the surrounding trees were cleared. 

Brown said the church will use the newfound space for additional parking.

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“I’m more than grateful for him (Mayor Young),” he said. “By him coming out here and being a part of this, it lets us know that the city is working to get this crime situation down.”

Faith leaders throughout Memphis will continue Blight Zero by leading cleanup efforts at their respective parishes on Oct. 19 for an Own the Block event.