Liberty Memphis
Liberty Memphis Founder and CEO Crystal Harris
Literacy Mid-South Intern Corey Jeffries spent some time with Liberty Memphis and their Founder and CEO Crystal Harris to discuss how they seek to revolutionize education and tag along for a home visit, a key element of their Family Educational Support Service Program (FESSP).
Tell us about your organization.
Liberty Memphis is an educational based nonprofit in which we support young learners and their parents and families in finding a common ground balance in their academic, social and economic areas of their life to help them succeed.
What programs do you offer to adult learners?
Our primary program is our family educational support program in which we focus on a targeted, at-risk young learner and ensure that they can increase their “B.A.G”, their behavior, attendance, and grades. In doing that, we go to their homes and observe what’s going on and find ways to support their parents, so that their parents can be enrolled into our paid parent training program in which they learn vital skills to help their family sustain behaviors and models to help them be successful.
Why is your organization important to Memphis?
Our Organization is important to the Memphis community because we not only have a vision, we have a plan, and we’re acting on that plan. We have developed tasks to help us dismantle systematic inequalities that are found in Memphis and marginalized communities. We want to revolutionize education to support these young learners, adult learners, and families in general so they can be as successful as they can be.
Why is it important to offer life-long learning opportunities to adults as a community?
To understand the importance of offering adult learners these opportunities, you must first understand what a learner is. A learner is not defined by age , but opportunity. If you have the space to learn a new skill or you want to know more information, you’re learning. Therefore, there are alot of environments that we can create for adult learners. Liberty Memphis specifically provides adult learning in the space of first identifying a young learner who needs improvement, and engaging their parents to support them in this journey. What that looks like for our parents is parent training, [Like] how to set up a space in the home where learning can take place, what consistency looks like, how to use funds to support extra curricular activities etc. It’s important for our community to come together to provide a space where we can continue to learn everyday, myself included. I might have to learn how to support a child. You might want to learn how to mow the grass where it is even across the board. All of these things are learning spaces.
What (if anything) have you appreciated about your partnership with Literacy Midsouth?
Oh Literacy Mid South is a wonderful organization because they tie in perfectly with what our mission statement is. Literacy Mid South has provided us with number one, resources, which is part of our mission. Number two is visibility, and number three is conversation, which helps build the nation, right? What we offer our families is connecting them to valuable resources, so we’re able to connect our parents to the learning platforms that Literacy Mid South provides, as well as the several books we are able to checkout and take with us on our trips back to home to read to our young learners. And then the visibility with joining in their variety of meetings with other organizations in the community helps bring visibility to Liberty Memphis Third, that conversation. I have been able to have several conversations with this organization's personnel around ideas and possible connections in the future for providing more programs for our community.
What is a common misconception you notice about adult learners that you wish you could dispel?
When I think of adult learners, I think about adults on every level of life that has space to learn a new skill, or gain new knowledge. Often times when we think about learners, we think that there is something lacking, and learning is about adding on, not replacing a space that’s empty.
If someone wants to take advantage of your programming, what should they do?
There are two main ways you can take advantage of our programming. One is to log into our website and register for one of our programs, and someone will reach out to you about next steps, or you can call us at our number 901- 231-5001.
Can you describe any recent partnerships or joint projects with other organizations that have been particularly successful or impactful?
Liberty Memphis’ whole premise is the community working together to bring these resources for our kost vulnerable populations. We work with very grassroot organizations, individuals with skills, small businesses who can contribute teaching our kids and have discussions with the kids about programs. Our most recent collaboration was with several individuals that are helping us present a showcase at the end of this learning cycle so kids can show what they know, act out what they know, and it’s a grand production in the making.
If you could wave a magic wand, what is one thing you would wish for, for Memphis?
Only one thing? Really? Well, I think I would have a wand that would be all encompassing in healing and solving issues for everybody.
Visit libertymemphis.org to learn more and connect with their team, and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date this wonderful organization!
