News

Dear Friends,

The Lord is always right on time.  After questioning and dreaming during a lunch meeting, a business owner asks his wife about selling a warehouse.  Next thing I know, we are closing on that warehouse with grant money to fund it.  We now own two warehouses!

The reason Advance Memphis is ecstatic to have a second warehouse with 66,000 square feet is because of all the opportunities for our South Memphis neighbors to work in their neighborhood AND to support businesses in our city. Versant Supply Chain, a prior customer in our Suzette warehouse, contacted us wanting more space.  Our 960 Bellevue warehouse has dedicated space for the Work Life elective- Automotive Maintenance taught by a volunteer from Harvest Church, Jeremy Brummer.  This picture of  the local church sharing its gifts and strengthening the body of Christ encourages us as we labor.  Another Work Life elective, Forklift Training & Certification, utilizes a shipping container, racking, and a taller ceiling. Not only are we preparing South Memphians for skilled labor jobs; our city benefits from an increased number of forklift operators.

Join us in prayer during this season with the many expenses to make the warehouse operational.  The investment in a second warehouse continues to give us a stronger and unique mix of funding including self-generated income, grants, and donations while providing more employment opportunities for our graduates in our target community and fulfilling our mission.  We have seen success in the growth of our warehousing endeavors as our Suzette warehouse currently operates successfully with 91% self-generated income.  Please consider donating today to support repairs and expanding our current fire sprinkler system to include the entire building.  In addition, as we seek to build a stronger donor base while strengthening cash flow, would you consider joining our team as a $20 or more  monthly donor?

Thanks for considering our financial needs but please don’t neglect prayer for Advance Memphis.  Aslan is on the move.  We are thankful hearts are being transformed by the good news of Jesus Christ at Advance Memphis.

Advancing Memphis Together,

Steve

Gloria took the bold step not only to enroll in Work Life but to choose Hope & Healing as one of her elective courses.  Quickly Gloria became a spokesperson for the Hope & Healing elective, telling all she met how the class changed her.  She hadn’t realized how trauma earlier in life was affecting her or what to do with her deep hurt.  She learned it was good to grieve the hurt rather than just moving on with life.  Gloria’s favorite part came the day the class each participant privately wrote their hurt on paper then released it. Gloria commented, “It felt like there was a person sitting on my chest and I could feel the weight coming off, my spirit releasing it.”  Gloria learned to “take it to God” and not allow it to “chain her down”.  When asked if she recommended the class, Gloria replied, “I recommend the class to anyone who feels like they are holding onto something.  It will help you find a way to forgive and let it go!”

Advance Memphis exists to bring hope to South Memphis through employment opportunities which lead to financial stability.  Sound easy?  As one might guess, it’s as complex as any human change could be.  Our soft job skills class, Work Life, addresses and equips our neighbors to remove roadblocks to achieve their employment goals.  For our neighbors in South Memphis, traumatic experiences ensure roadblocks.  In fact, trauma overshadows both successes and setbacks.  New this year, Advance Memphis added Hope & Healing as a Work Life elective in effort to address trauma in the lives of our neighbors with hope and healing. Hope & Healing stems from American Bible Society’s Trauma Institute in which all Advance Memphis staff is trained. This program elective fulfills one of our 2019 goals while meeting a need of those we serve.  Please enjoy hearing about Gloria’s experience in the Hope & Healing trauma care elective.

Gloria demonstrates the courage it takes to heal and to forgive.  Certainly, healing is a process.  This process not only strengthens her, it increases chances of success in the workplace and sets an inspiring example for others.  As we continue to relationally invest in our South Memphis neighbors, trauma care through Hope & Healing provides another layer of support in the journey toward financial stability.

For Black History Month, the Advance Memphis staff shared a story every morning that centered around a brave hero of the African American Community. These heroes include remarkable women and men such as Maxine Smith, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Alberta Williams King. It was such an honor to highlight their courage and bravery in the face of great injustice and hate. We are sharing these stories with the hope that you also might be encouraged to persevere.  These stories remind us of Galatians 6:9, which tells us to, “not grow weary of doing good.” So many of us cannot imagine how weary these individuals must have been yet they kept going; and today we have benefited from their lives and legacies. The Advance Memphis staff were honored and humbled to acknowledge these immense contributions and others like them.

Please see our 2018 Newsletter for stories and outcomes of God’s blessings in 2018. Note that the newsletter contains some full year estimates.

Memphis— November 6, 2018 —Advance Memphis is pleased to announce publication on their website of an Impact Assessment for the years 2016-2017 performed by Slingshot Memphis (www.slingshotmemphis.org). Advance Memphis is proud to be one of the first four local non-profits that Slingshot partnered with in 2017. The report presents, “Advance Memphis earns an ‘at least strong’ rating on three of the four dimensions” analyzed in the assessment: Benefit-cost ratio, Use of best practices, and Measurement infrastructure. Steve Nash, Executive Director, said,”I am amazed at how much the board and staff of Slingshot Memphis have accomplished in two years.  Their work has strengthened Read more

Q3 Advance Memphis Newsletter

It is such a joy to have a front-row view of what the Lord is doing in the lives of our neighbors in South Memphis, as well as in the lives of the many volunteers who make this work possible. Art for Jobs was just another rallying of the volunteer troops, numbering over 70 who committed over 330 hours in the planning and execution of the event. Read more

2018 Featured Artists: Chuck Johnson, EMYO, Terry Lynn

Adam Exelbierd~Alexis Dowell~Amy Carlisle~Angela Xu~Anne Siems~Arthur Hartwig~Art Wilson~Ashley Anthony~Barry Moser~Benjamin Roberts~Beth Winterburn~Betsy Brown~Bill Johns~Bob Furniss~Bob Pierce~Brenda Joysmith~Carl Fox~Catherine Burns~Cathy Lancaster ~Cheryl McCormack~Chloe York~Christen Waung~Christina Geating~Christopher Nadaskay~Dana Blalack~Daniel Huerta~Danielle Sumler~Darlene Read more

Dear Art For Job Patrons:

On behalf of the Advance Memphis team, thank you for attending Art for Jobs 2018! Your generosity with your time encourages us. The warehouse where you attended Art for Jobs (and hopefully purchased art) is the same warehouse where we had 13 graduates working last week. Monday, work will resume. Consider the Advance Memphis Warehouse and our hard working graduates as solutions to your business needs. You may not need outsourcing work performed for your company BUT you may know someone who does. Please share Advance Memphis as a business solution for labor, space, and project work! After almost 20 years, Advance Memphis still needs your support and involvement. Through purchasing art, you helped fund Advance Memphis. Finally, I hope you all got a little glimpse into our Creator through the talents of our artists!

Thanks for partnering with us,

Stephen T. Nash

Executive Director