Mobility = Mobility
MATA has officially extended its fare-free pilot through March 31, with further expansion beyond that possible as well. The city council also approved a measure to reallocate millions of dollars from the Bus Rapid Transit system to shore up MATA’s existing operations.
MATA has long been underfunded compared to the need across Memphis. Ridership has dwindled as routes have been cut, and access has been hard to achieve for our sprawling city. Without physical mobility, we will never achieve economic mobility, so how do we fix Memphis’ public transit?
What is the best way to handle school closures?
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board voted to approve the closure of five schools, in line with the recommendation of Superintendent Roderick Richmond. According to the Daily Memphian, three of the closures were not discussed during the meeting and were approved unanimously, while two received more pushback.
In this update, we discuss what makes for a successful school transition, what the research shows us about the impact of closures, and how families can best navigate the change.
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.
Memphis Again #1 in Child Poverty
The Memphis 2025 Poverty Fact Sheet shows that Memphis still has the highest poverty rate for children in the nation. More than four in 10 children in this city live below the federal poverty line—nearly double the nation rate. This is unacceptable. We must do better by our youth.
But how do we do that? Through long-term structural change, not short-term charity or isolated programs. We need more early investment for children 0-8 years old, better cradle-to-career pipelines, more economic stability for families, affordable housing, and public-private accountability.
Shutdown Impact Coming to Memphis
The federal government has been shut down for over one month and could become the longest shut-down in history if it continues through Wednesday, Nov. 5th. Memphis and Shelby County are being hit particularly hard as low-income households have not received expected November funds through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP helps 20 million low-income households across the United States purchase food.
Nearly 20% of Shelby County households will struggle to afford food until the shut-down ends or emergency funding is provided in the meantime. In this update, we discuss the impact of the government shutdown on federal employee pay, SNAP benefits, and healthcare premiums in Memphis and Shelby County.