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This summer, more than 5,000 young people across Memphis are participating in City supported jobs, camps, enrichment programs, leadership opportunities, and workforce development experiences designed to help them learn, earn, create, explore, and prepare for their future.
They will spend their summer earning paychecks, building robots, producing music, learning to swim, exploring college campuses, creating films, writing creatively, learning financial literacy, competing in sports leagues, and gaining real-world work experience across our city.
Early on, I challenged our teams to think bigger about how we engage young people in Memphis.
I wanted us to create more opportunities, reach more neighborhoods, and introduce young people to careers, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and creative spaces they may not have seen before. I wanted every department thinking about how we help young people see possibilities for themselves and their future.
This summer, you can see that work is taking shape across Memphis.
Memphis needs our young people. Memphis needs their creativity, their ideas, their leadership, and their talent right here at home.
Through MPLOY, the City of Memphis summer youth employment program, we are employing 3,000 young people ages 14 to 22 this summer. Last year, the program served 1,807 youth. This year, we expanded the program significantly and grew from 175 employer partners to 470 businesses and organizations across Memphis.
Young people will spend six weeks working inside businesses, large and small, throughout the city. Some are stepping into professional workplaces for the first time. Some are discovering industries they never knew existed. Some are learning entrepreneurship directly from local business owners. Some are earning their first paycheck and opening their first bank account.
One story that stood out to me involved a Memphis student studying chemical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Through MPLOY, she interned with Buckman and discovered career opportunities in Memphis she never knew existed. She had planned to leave the city after graduation. Now she wants to return home and build her future here.
Because Memphis needs our young people. Memphis needs their creativity, their ideas, their leadership, and their talent right here at home.
And for many families, these programs are making a real difference right now. One mother shared with our team that City youth programs helped reinforce the life lessons and social skills she was teaching her children at home. Another grandmother raising her granddaughter after the loss of her daughter shared that programs like MPLOY are helping support her household while also giving her granddaughter confidence, structure, and opportunity.
Across our Parks system, more than 2,200 children are enrolled in summer camps across 26 community centers throughout Memphis. Parks director Justice Bolden’s focus is on our youth development. Young people are participating in literacy programs, STEM workshops, robotics camps, golf instruction, swimming lessons, financial literacy education, and career exploration opportunities.
What I love most about this work is that it is happening across every part of our city. In parks. In libraries. In community centers. In businesses. Inside City Hall. Inside neighborhoods.
Inside our libraries and at CLOUD901, young people are participating in filmmaking camps, coding programs, music production workshops, creative writing programs, 3D printing workshops, cooking camps, and robotics instruction.
And through our Urban Fellows program, we are placing 100 young people into paid internships across City government, helping build the next generation of civic leaders right here at home. We are also welcoming more than 55 law students and legal interns who will gain hands-on experience supporting the important legal work that helps keep our city running. From public safety and neighborhood revitalization to contracts, compliance, and community development.
What I love most about this work is that it is happening across every part of our city. In parks. In libraries. In community centers. In businesses. Inside City Hall. Inside neighborhoods. We are creating more spaces where young people feel seen, supported, challenged, and connected to opportunity.
One of the quotes that our Office of Youth Services Director Brian Harris loves to share is that young people may be only 35% of our population, but they are 100% of our future. I couldn’t agree more.
That future is being shaped right now across Memphis, and I am proud of the teams, businesses, educators, mentors, and community partners helping make that possible every day.
NEW RESOURCES FOR RESIDENTS
Free SNAP eligibility tool now available! The City of Memphis has a free online tool to help residents find out if they may qualify for SNAP food assistance. Answer a few simple questions and get a personalized list of programs you may be eligible for, along with plain-language guidance on next steps. No account or login required.
Available 24/7 by voice or text
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Private — no personal information collected
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Available in multiple languages
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Works on any phone, tablet, or computer
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Eligibility information is pulled directly from the State of Tennessee, so everything you see reflects current state requirements.
This tool was made possible through a grant from the Kresge Foundation and the City's participation in Data Smart City Solutions, Bloomberg Center for Cities.
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E. Person Ave. between Glory Circle and Lapaloma St.
Saturday, May 30
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
