The South Memphis Alliance (SMA) is entering its 7th year as an umbrella, nonprofit agency serving the Memphis community in HIV/AIDS prevention. This organization is an alliance of local community associations throughout Memphis. These associations, being composed of urban residents, are most impacted by HIV. They provide SMA with a direct link to the community and client base. Each affiliate community association’s president and vice-president has a seat on SMA’s Board of Directors, similar in some respects to the Regional Community Planning Groups (RCPG) used in Tennessee's community planning process for HIV prevention. The board responds to the community’s needs with the best possible solutions to prevent the spread of HIV and assist those already infected. What makes SMA so unique is how it evolved. In 1992, a small group of urban residents met at a local church and formed a neighborhood watch association to combat the growing apathy that had consumed their community. They called the association South Memphis Alliance and Regrowth Team (SMART). By 1995, the membership of the association had grown dramatically and executive members found themselves engaged in more issues dealing with city policies than ever before. The neighborhood watch group decided to become a community association to better represent their growing issue base. SMART became SMART, Incorporated. For the next few years, SMART, Inc. would engage city officials, push for greater civic involvement, and bridge gaps between the community and service providers. Eventually, professional staff was needed to meet the growing demands; volunteers were stretched too thin. After long debates, the community association decided to apply for a nonprofit status. In 1997, SMART, Inc. achieved 501(c)3 status and shortened its name to South Memphis Alliance, Inc. Reginald Milton, an original member of the association, was appointed the executive director. SMA worked to develop new models for civic development. In 1999, Milton proposed that SMA should work to spread civic engagement throughout Memphis and look at providing services itself. These services would have a stronger community involvement than normal. These services would be client driven. The community members agreed; and in 2000, SMA, Inc. was reborn as an umbrella agency for associations throughout Memphis. The member-based part of SMA, Inc. became Victor/Kerr Community Association and was the first affiliate member to come under SMA.
SMA is working to build an Urban Information Network of local civic organizations. One of the challenges faced by urban residents is the lack of access to trusted, timely, useful and understandable information. It was SMA's contention that effective, democratically operated community associations could be the link by which these urban residents could access necessary information. The focus of SMA is to support the development of civic groups. This support would ensure an active participation, identification and positive resolutions to issues of concern for urban residents. SMA’s mission is divided into three goals:
Develop community controlled services,
Provide effective mentoring to area civic groups, and
Work to be a strong advocate of issues affecting the urban poor.
Ten community associations have joined SMA since 2000. Census Tract 61 Neighborhood Watch followed Victor/Kerr Community Association and became SMA’s second affiliate member in 2001, followed by Wellington/Shadowlawn and Mallory Heights in 2002, the 35th Ward Civic Club and East Dison Block Club in 2003, the Hernando Terrance Association and Trigg Subdivision Neighborhood Watch in 2004, Barksdale/Cloverdale Neighborhood Association in 2005 and Annesdale/Snowden Historic District in 2006. HIV/AIDS prevention is only one of the many issues this alliance is engaged in; others range from improving the financial literacy of urban residents to zoning policies. Below is a list of the many services and issues this agency is actively engaged in:
The Stand By Me Youth Intervention Project started in 2002, which provides a researched based, holistic prevention for positive program that includes--- HIV/AIDS prevention, anger management, conflict resolution, sexual responsibility and goal setting to hundreds of incarcerated and at-risk youth. Since 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been a major funder of this project.
The Wellness Academy forYouth is a collaboration SMA has with Friends For Life, St. Jude and the Tennessee Department of Health to provide after-care and counseling to HIV positive teens.
Family to Family is a contractual agreement between SMA and the Department of Children Services to provide counseling and prevention intervention to families in crisis.
Project SafePlace is a network of sites to assist/support young people who have no place to go but the streets. SMA Citizens’ Center is a place where these teenagers can go for help and assistance.
MoneySmart is a partnership among SMA, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Women’s Foundation to provide financial literacy classes to inner-city residents in an effort to reduce the cycle of poverty.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is an alliance among SMA, United Way of the Mid-South and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to inform and assist lower income, working adults in collecting available tax credits. SMA's work with community associations, in a grassroots effort to improve community governance and civic engagement, has enabled them to utilize various funding sources.
In 2001, SMA received a grant from the City of Memphis for $100,000 and was selected as a model for civic development by the Assets-Based Community Development Institute, headed by Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight, authors of “Building Communities from the Inside Out.” In 2003, the Community Foundation for Greater Memphis awarded SMA a three-year grant for $75,000. SMA also receives support from other well-known funders such as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and from the Minority Initiatives program initiated by CDC funding, and is dispersed by the Tennessee Department of Health.
Thanks to several funding sources, SMA was able to purchase a 3,000 square foot facility in the heart of Memphis.
Reginald Milton - founder of the South Memphis Alliance, has remained its Executive Director from day one. He has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from LeMoyne-Owens College and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Non-Profit Management from the University of Memphis. His vision has developed into a respected community based agency in Memphis and one of the largest non-profit providers of HIV/AIDS prevention education services to incarcerated teenagers in Tennessee.
