Stories

Feature Story Expectant moms received diapers, wipes, baby clothes, a co-sleeper and more. (Cole Bradley)

Orange Mound community baby shower seeks to empower lifetime of community health

Expectant moms in Orange Mound face some of the country’s highest rates of pregnancy complications and infant mortality, but JUICE Orange Mound has a plan for healthier families that starts with the neighborhood’s biggest baby shower. 

Feature Story Mauricio Calvo, executive director of Latino Memphis (L) and Yancy Villa-Calvo, a Memphis artist and community engagement specialist. (Submitted)

Newly naturalized, the leading family of Latino Memphis votes in their first U.S. election

Mauricio Calvo and Yancy Villa-Calvo, who are among Memphis' most prominent Latino citizens, are hopeful about the ‘blue wave’ in the August 2 primary elections and what it means for the local immigrant and Latino populations. 

Development News Campbell Clinic expansion

Checking in on campus expansions at Campbell Clinic and Methodist University Hospital

Campbell Clinic and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare are in the process of expanding their campuses with new development projects totaling $318 million.


Development News Volunteers installed planters that form a dividing wall to passing traffic on National Street.

More funding needed to sustain grassroots community development projects

While many community members and organizations often have great ideas for community development projects, the reality is there is not enough money available to fund everyone's vision. Last year, Community LIFT’s Empowerment Fund paved the way for improvement and beautification projects across the city, but a new study shows that much more funding is needed to keep momentum from those projects moving forward.


Feature Story Hope House client and HIV advocate Latrina Moore and her three children pose for a portrait on the Hope House swing. Her two youngest children have attended Hope House's daycare and pre-K. (Greg Campbell)

HIV and AIDS advocates say holistic support is critical and Memphis’ Hope House is getting it right

The unseen burden of an HIV and AIDS diagnosis is the stigma and the discrimination that may follow. Memphis-based Hope House wraps around clients with dozens of services so they can focus on building their best and healthiest lives.

Feature Story On The Ground editor Cole Bradley introduces the night's speakers.

"Learning to love the soil" and other stories from Uptown and The Pinch

Residents, small business owners and young folks shared stories about the personal experiences and events that shaped their relationships with Uptown and The Pinch.

Feature Story Katie Cooper, a founding member of The Hive Collective, works in the group's new Downtown space, which provides a coworking outlet for digital creatives. (Noah Glenn)

Growing the hive: Downtown coworking space provides a home for digital creatives

The Hive Collective started as an online chat and grew to an actual local network of digital creatives. In August, The Hive opened a pop-up coworking space in a prominent Downtown location. 


Feature Story Employee Scott Graves shelves books at Novel bookstore in East Memphis. (Brandon Dill/High Ground News)

Reflections on one year since the opening of Novel, Memphis’ largest independent bookstore

This time last year, Novel bucked one of the oldest retail trends — that of indie bookstores collapsing under the weight of a busted business model — and opened its doors again. 

Feature Story Hot Yoga Plus is integrated with the diversiFIT app so members can sign up for any class through the app and it automatically populates into studio's scheduling software. (Madison Yen)

Memphis entrepreneurs reach across the aisle and launch multi-gym membership service

DiversiFIT jumps into the boutique group fitness trend in Memphis by offering unlimited access to classes at a fixed monthly cost.


Development News Lake District rendering

Lake District project finally nears construction

The design of the $375 million project echoes a national trend to add new uses to land formerly occupied by retail-only centers.


Development News One Beale The Landing

$225M One Beale riverfront development to open with hotel, apartments, dining

Plans for the One Beale riverfront redevelopment project have changed many times over the past 15 years as developers adapted to construction challenges and unstable economic conditions. With the recent addition of a critical piece of property, now Carlisle LLC is set to revive the project and start construction by early next year on the first phase.


Development News The menu at New Wing Order features 16 different types of wings.

Former Southern Hot Wings Fest champions open new food truck

The New Wing Order food truck will hit the Memphis streets in September, and entrepreneurs Cole Forrest and Jess McDonald hope their new venture could lead to opening a brick-and-mortar location in the next couple of years.


Feature Story Anasa Troutman has been tapped as the first executive director of Clayborn Temple, a job she started July 2 and which involves helping craft a new future for the iconic civil rights-era church building. (Darius Williams)

Clayborn Temple’s first executive director shares her vision for the civil rights landmark

Anasa Troutman will lead historic Clayborn Temple into a new era and help it find a new place in the community.


Feature Story Pinwheel Playroooms

Video: More than a laundromat, South Memphis center strengthens community and childhood literacy

While caregivers wash clothes at the Social Suds Resource Center, children can interact with the facility's Pinwheel Playroom where they can play, read, and take home books.

Feature Story The group of urban explorers moves through the culvert shortly after entering the covered portion of the Gayoso Bayou. (Brandon Dahlberg)

Underground Uptown: A journey into the little-known tunnels that civilized the Memphis riverside

The Gayoso Bayou was once the five-mile-long waterway where Mississippi River workers hitched their flatboats. Now buried underground, it's a critical artery in Memphis' network of storm drains. 

Feature Story A CLE-organized event.

Women working it: Cat Evans creates events to nurture Memphis' diverse arts scene

Cat Evans, owner and founder of CLE, brings all forms of talent together for Memphians to enjoy. Through her work on local festivals–including DreamFest and GirlPower–and her creative influence, Cat has been working to showcase all forms of talent in Memphis for people to experience.

Development News Karen Adams Design 647 Madison

Stationery company moves to former bakery in the Edge District

After being forced to move locations several times over the past nearly 20 years due to consistent growth of her business, entrepreneur Karen Adams is redeveloping her own building at 647 Madison Avenue in the Edge District into a permanent space for Karen Adams Designs.


Feature Story A design from Memphis Made Brewing Co. (Submitted)

The art of beer: A peek behind the curtain of Memphis' local brewery designs

If promoting local beer, local food and local music is a part of the ethos of Memphis, then supporting local art must be as well. As Memphis' craft brewery scene grows, it's no surprise that local artists are tapped to design the brands around local flavors.

Feature Story The north entrance to Central Gardens on Belvedere Boulevard.

Central Gardens overhauls sidewalk repair through crowdfunding

With over 500 acres of neighborhood to cover, replacing sidewalks was made even more challenging by the fact that homeowners — not the city — are responsible for initiating their own sidewalk repair. The Central Gardens Association reimagined the personal homeowner's financial responsibility as a collective imperative.


Feature Story Scooters on display at the My City Rides storefront on 376 Cleveland Street.

My City Rides pay-as-you-go scooter purchase program expands to Memphis students

This year, the transit nonprofit My City Rides has joined forces with the Southern College of Optometry, setting its sights on students. As students return to campus this August, many of them will have cars, some will have bus passes and now some will even have My City Rides scooters.