Program areas at MLF
Economic opportunities ("ecop") provides job training and placement ministry for men and women who have significant barrier to entering the job market. Over the last 20 years, this ministry has put over 2,000 people back to work, many of them ex-offenders.
Las americas ("las") is a youth outreach ministry designed for latino youth living in the hickory hill area of Memphis. Outreach clubs, bible study and after school educational programs reach over 150 young people weekly.
Restore corps ("rc") in cooperation with Tennessee bureau of investigation and local law enforcement, engages teens and/or adults who are victims of sex trafficking by providing access to social services, counseling, transportation, housing, food, clothing and an opportunity to hear the gospel.
Other general ministries providing discipleship of christian principles to various groups of at risk urban youth and adults including the following specific ministries: *heart to heart ("h2h")h2h is a partnership with youth villages to provide an on-site coordinator for their spiritual life program. More than 350 youth in residential treatment have the opportunity to participate in weekly chapel, bible study and worship services as well as individual pastoral training. *christ fellowship ("cf")cf exists to foster positive changes in the life of at risk youth by going where kids are, building positive christ centered relationships, volunteering in schools, providing after school programming and engaging them in various enrichment activities in order to advance the kingdom of god against the darkness of this world by loving god, embodying god's love for each-other and proclaiming god's love to the world in word and deed. *refugee empowerment program ("rep")rep addresses the unique needs and concerns of the refugee population of Memphis, Tennessee through innovative empowerment programs and creative community outreach. *transportation ministry ("tm") the transportation ministry provides transportation services to Memphis Leadership Foundation and its partner/affiliate ministries in buses and large vans transporting youth served by mlf ministries to after-school and weekend activities throughout the city. The services are provided on a contract usage basis from a third party professional transportation service. Approximate number of youth served and transported considered to be 200,000. *901 bloc ("901")the 901 is a street intervention team which was created to counteract violence by intervening with a relational approach in communities such as frayser, orange mound, south Memphis and the mount moriah corridor. The Memphis approach is modeled after successful programs in other urban communities around the country and has three primary functions: 1) case management and regular contact with at-risk youth, 2) responding to acts of violence to prevent retaliation and 3) pre-emptive diplomacy to de-escalate potentially violent situations in the community. *other ministries & shared costs- excel leadership/scholarship program ("excel")excel is a Leadership and scholarship opportunity program for inner city youth. Students receive scholarships from union university, bethel university or christian brothers university to help defray education costs and are given a mentor for the duration of their college education. Virtually all of the students are first generation college students in their families.- the cooperative computer ministry ("ccm")the ccm trains urban youth in computer literacy by providing support services to small urban churches and underserved families in urban Memphis.- Leadership development ("ld")ld offers two separate year-long training workshops to urban ministry leaders and pastors: (1) urban arrow teaches Leadership and management training. (2) transformational giving teaches biblical fundraising and equips with various strategies and opportunities.- community bikes of Memphis ("cbm")cbm works with existing organizations in underserved neighborhoods to provide youth and adults with access to bicycling.- ezra52 ("ezra")ezra is a housing rehabilitation program that trains refugees in the residential construction trades.- clayborn temple restoration project ("ctrp") the ctrp was formed to restore the old clayborn temple to be utilized as a worshipping, gathering, working place and symbol for the new Memphis that is growing within the city, particularly the downtown Memphis area. .