Why should we care?
SCS’s ability to provide a quality, equitable education is being undercut by high teacher turnover and year-long teaching vacancies, as well as significant maintenance deficiencies within the schools, all of which leads to higher financial, educational, and health costs. A lack of access to wraparound services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, and nurses inhibits the successful treatment of trauma or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). Abuse, neglect, and trauma significantly increase the likelihood of suspensions, juvenile criminal behavior, and incarceration. With a median age four years below the national average, Memphis’s population can support economic development, but only if we provide children in our community access to opportunities and support.
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Equipping people of faith and goodwill to organize communities for systemic change through collective action.
Community Listening Session: Shaping The Rustin Institute
Sat, Nov 01
|National Civil Rights Museum
Join the National Civil Rights Museum for a Community Listening Session to help shape the vision and values of the new Rustin Institute, a hub for education, interfaith dialogue, and justice-centered organizing inspired by Bayard Rustin’s legacy.
Time & Location
Nov 01, 2025, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry St, Memphis, TN 38103, USA
About the event
In 2026, the National Civil Rights Museum will launch the Bayard Rustin Institute—a new initiative honoring the life and legacy of this visionary activist and strategist, best known as an advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Following in Rustin’s footsteps, the Institute aims to support the vital work of Memphis’s organizing and advocacy community. You are the experts in this work, and we’re eager to hear your thoughts and insights as we design an Institute that best supports a thriving and robust organizing landscape.
Join the National Civil Rights Museum for a Community Listening Session to help shape the vision and values of the new Rustin Institute, a hub for education, interfaith dialogue, and justice-centered organizing inspired by Bayard Rustin’s legacy.
Together, we’ll explore:
What Memphis needs from a Rustin Institute
How the Institute can serve local communities
The…
Upcoming Events
Tue, Nov 18Grace St. Luke's Episcopal ChurchTuesday, November 18 at Grace St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Wed, Nov 19Christ City ChurchAre you concerned about the Memphis “Safe" Task Force occupying Memphis? Do you feel overwhelmed by the harm being done to the most vulnerable in our city with our tax dollars? Do you want to learn how you can respond in an organized and faithful way? Join the Democracy and Faith Training on Nov 19!
Multiple DatesThu, Nov 20Idlewild Presbyterian ChurchBetter Transit for a Better Memphis, led by daily riders and other community champions, organizes and advocates for fully funded, accessible, and equitable public transit.
Sat, Nov 22ClarksvilleMICAH will join our sister affiliates for a Tirzah Throwdown on Saturday Nov 22nd in Clarksville, TN. Project NOW Clarksville, a coalition of people of faith, are heading to the streets to knock on doors and get our neighbors out to vote in the District 7 Special Election.
Multiple DatesWed, Dec 03Register for more detailsParticipate in an HEHF Board Watch–to attend monthly HEHF Board meetings and solidarity with the tenants whose lives the HEHF Board impacts.
Upcoming Events
- Tue, Nov 18Grace St. Luke's Episcopal ChurchTuesday, November 18 at Grace St. Luke's Episcopal Church
- Wed, Nov 19Christ City ChurchAre you concerned about the Memphis “Safe" Task Force occupying Memphis? Do you feel overwhelmed by the harm being done to the most vulnerable in our city with our tax dollars? Do you want to learn how you can respond in an organized and faithful way? Join the Democracy and Faith Training on Nov 19!
- Multiple DatesThu, Nov 20Idlewild Presbyterian ChurchBetter Transit for a Better Memphis, led by daily riders and other community champions, organizes and advocates for fully funded, accessible, and equitable public transit.
- Sat, Nov 22ClarksvilleMICAH will join our sister affiliates for a Tirzah Throwdown on Saturday Nov 22nd in Clarksville, TN. Project NOW Clarksville, a coalition of people of faith, are heading to the streets to knock on doors and get our neighbors out to vote in the District 7 Special Election.
- Multiple DatesWed, Dec 03Register for more detailsParticipate in an HEHF Board Watch–to attend monthly HEHF Board meetings and solidarity with the tenants whose lives the HEHF Board impacts.