Shelby County’s New Year’s Resolutions
If you’re anything like us, you’re struggling to stick to your New Year’s resolutions, and it’s hardly been a week. That’s because it’s way easier to carry on the status quo than to make important, difficult changes to your life. Memphis is the same way—our local governments, education systems, nonprofits, and budgets can easily fall into the same playbook year-in and year-out.
Just like our personal resolutions, we won’t achieve our community resolutions without a plan. While we still face low educational outcomes, entrenched poverty, and a myriad of other challenges, a set of shared resolutions and commitments across our efforts can begin to change how we support our children and families in 2026.
A Brief History: Pell Grants & the Short-Term Training Debate
For more than 50 years, the federal Pell Grant has helped millions of undergraduates afford associate and bachelor’s degrees. But until now, Pell could not be used for short-term training programs. With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, Congress created a new Workforce Pell Grant program that expands Pell access to short, workforce-focused programs while adding unusually strong performance guardrails.
In this update, we explain the new Workforce Pell Grant and how Shelby County can take advantage of the change to make sure local families actually gain living-wage work.