Healthy Communities

Feature Story Christine Jones and her mother Irma (behind) walk down the hall toward an exam room while being seen at the Guthrie Primary Care Clinic in Smokey City, North Memphis. (Andrea Morales, 2017).

Healthcare has never been equitable and the pandemic is proof


Feature Story Kenzie Cleaves stands inside a vacant unit in her North Memphis apartment complex that she said has been unsecured for over a year. Unsafe housing conditions can increase COVID-19-related deaths. (Ziggy Mack)

In poor communities, toxic housing is a risk factor for COVID-19 deaths


Demanding healthy communities has become a battle cry in Memphis. As a city, we understand at the core of happiness, economic development and success is a population of healthy citizens. Recent years have seen a confluence of corporate, non-profit and community actions all directed at a single-goal: making Memphis healthy. And the communal work is not coindidence, because it takes everyone's involvement to create a healthy environment. True community health means access to quality healthcare, fresh foods and safe outdoor space. We are working together to design our city – our buildings, neighborhoods, communities – to make healthy living an easy choice.