Presley Place/MIFA

MIFA, Estival Communities & Presley Place
By the MIFA Staff

The death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 plunged the city of Memphis and his dream into darkness. A group of religious leaders rekindled that dream, putting their faith into action to bring hope, independence and dignity to all Memphians. Since that humble beginning, the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) has offered a hand up to hundreds of thousands of our Mid-South neighbors in need. With the support of many generous donors and thousands of dedicated volunteers, MIFA empowers homeless families, unlocks the potential of our youth, extends a hand of hope to the working poor, supports the independence of our frail elderly and develops strong support communities. MIFA makes a difference because we bring together people of different faiths, races and ages who have a common dream...to make Memphis a better place to live.

MIFA's ever-changing, always innovative methods of empowering homeless families have grown through many years of identifying the needs of these families and finding new and different ways of serving them. MIFA has taken these years of experience and learned how to provide housing and services efficiently and effectively in order to help families achieve independence and self-sufficiency. To understand where the program has grown to today, you must examine how it began.

In 1984, MIFA began serving homeless families through the Emergency Homes for Families program. The program was unique for its time because it served intact families (men, women and children) in apartment housing as opposed to shelters. At the time the program was initiated the agency's limited knowledge of homeless families led the staff to design a program for families experiencing a one-time crisis, thereby making 30-60 days of emergency housing a sufficient response. However, program participants experienced a high rate of recidivism, causing MIFA staff to analyze the low rate of success. This analysis revealed the following:

1. Most homeless families are not victims of one-time crisis, but instead have experienced months, or even years, of instability.

2. Most homeless families lack basic independent living skills.

3. Most homeless parents lack job skills, a consistent work history or even a high school education.

4. Most homeless families are dealing with psycho-social issues such as addiction, domestic violence and depression.

5. Most homeless families have serious credit problems, which prevent them from obtaining permanent housing.

6. Most homeless families have preschool children and are unable to work or attend school without quality day care.

In response MIFA redesigned its service delivery to homeless families and opened the Estival Place Life Skills School in September 1991. This program combined twenty new units of transitional housing with a service center designed to address all the issues listed above. This new model of transitional housing provided housing for up to twelve months along with a comprehensive set of services to guide families toward self-sufficiency. Today, our multi-site program is known as Estival Communities and the supportive services provided include:

Child Development Center serving children ages 6 weeks to 13 years old.

Weekly Life Skills Classes addressing such topics as money and household management, parenting and child development, employment readiness, credit issues and many others.

Case Management. Each family is assigned a case manager to help them identify the events that led to their becoming homeless in order to learn the skills necessary for self-sufficiency. Any needs that cannot be met by the case management staff on site, such as counseling or legal issues, are referred to participating agencies to ensure that all the families' needs are met in a timely and effective manner.

Financial Responsibility. Case managers help each family develop and maintain a personal budget, teaching them to pay back debts, save money and live within their means. Families leave Estival Communities on a much more firm financial footing than when they came, having repaid an average of $1,000 in back debt and having saved an average of $1,100.

Savings. Another innovative aspect of the program that began in 1991 and continues today is the savings component. Families are not charged a fee for rent, but they are required to deposit 30% of their income into a MIFA savings account. The funds are returned to the family when they graduate from the program. Savings funds are typically used to pay for the first month's rent, security deposit and, in some cases, down payment for the purchase of a home. With a maximum length of stay of twelve months, this allows the graduate to make their first steps toward independence instead of seeking further assistance from MIFA or other social services or public agencies.

The primary purpose of the program is to combine quality housing with comprehensive educational services, thereby creating a life skills school which teaches participants how to live stable and independent lives. The program seeks to improve the physical, mental and spiritual health of all participants. In 1998, after seven years of service to over 400 families, this program achieved measurable success as demonstrated by the fact that 85% of families served had obtained permanent housing and maintained their housing for at least two years. This is due to the fact that the employment rate doubles from 35% at program entry to 72% at the time of move-out. The innovative educational features of Estival Place, combined with the documented success of the program, inspired Tipper Gore to declare the program to be "a model for the nation" during her visit in 1995. The program was also recognized in 1997 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in their national publication, Spotlighting What Works.

In spite of the success of Estival Communities, there is still tremendous need for housing for homeless families in Memphis. Program staff often must turn away families due to a lack of space. Estival staff make referrals to emergency shelters, but there is no other facility in Memphis that offers the same combination of quality, long-term housing with comprehensive support services.

To address this need MIFA has recently expanded to 66 units of transitional housing, providing comprehensive services to all residents. Twenty of the new units comprise Idlewild Court, a new development built in partnership with Idlewild Presbyterian Church. This complex includes a classroom with a teaching kitchen. After this expansion the program name was changed from Estival Place to Estival Communities to encompass the numerous campuses and the various services provided.

Estival Communities will expand further with the construction of Presley Place, funded through Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises' philanthropic entity, The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. Presley Place will be a new campus of Estival Communities containing 10-12 units of transitional housing for homeless families. Elvis himself spent a portion of his life in public housing in the days when it was truly transitional and not a way of life. Elvis never forgot the struggles his family went through, as evidenced by his annual tradition of distributing checks to fifty or more local charities and so much more that he did for others. Today, his legacy of generosity continues through Presley Place as new generations of families will be given the opportunity to achieve their own measure of success.

MIFA's Estival Communities will continue to grow and evolve to meet the ever changing needs of homeless families. This vital expansion would not be possible without partners such as the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. Through their generous donation and involvement they are helping to guide homeless families on the pathway to independence.