- This month on The Spark, our theme is "From Foundation to Future".

We'll learn about a nonprofit helping individuals and families buy safe, affordable homes with a zero percent interest mortgage, a youth symphony program celebrating musical development in a fun, inclusive, collaborative community, and a network of companies focused on a higher purpose to lift our communities across Tennessee.

We'll also share a special moment from our Spark Awards 2025.

- From Higginbotham's founding in 1948, our insurance agency has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity, and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services is honored to be the presenting sponsor of The Spark.

- (male announcer) Additional funding for The Spark is provided by United Way of the Mid-South, EcOp, the Memphis Zoo, and by the Medical Education & Research Institute.

- Have you ever been excited by a new idea?

Inspired by watching someone lead by example?

When we talk about creating change, we start by sharing the stories of everyday heroes who are making a difference in their own way, so we can learn and do the same.

I'm Jeremy Park, and this is The Spark.

They're a nonprofit helping individuals and families buy safe, affordable homes with a zero percent interest mortgage.

We're here with the President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, Dwayne Spencer.

And let's start out, you're putting up some big numbers when it comes to economic impact, so give us a little bit of an overview for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis.

- How you doing?

Thank you so much for having me.

So yeah, we have been around since 1983, and in that time, we've built nearly 650 houses.

And what we're talking about is building from the ground up, selling them to families who could not qualify for a traditional mortgage.

And Jeremy, we're selling them to them with a zero interest mortgage.

That is what really makes all the difference.

And then around 2013, 2014, we started doing something called neighborhood revitalization in connection with our headquarters.

That led us to look at an opportunity to repair homes, which basically turned into our current Aging in Place program.

And in that time, with Aging in Place, we've now done, I think, a staggering 1,800 repairs for older adults.

We're going in and modifying the homes and giving them mobility that they would not be able to achieve any other way.

- One of the powerful things to me is the way you bring the community together, but you offer a number of wraparound services.

So dive in a little deeper on how the magic happens.

- So for the Affordable Housing Program, the family is leaving, first and foremost, they're leaving a situation where they may be paying up to 50% of their bring-home pay on a rental.

They're coming to us seeking opportunity to be a homeowner.

And so what we do is we spend 13 to 15 weeks with them, putting them through some financial literacy training, what it means to be a good neighbor, how to improve your credit.

We're talking about interest rates and then mortgages and closings and preparing them for what it's going to be like to be a homeowner.

And then the day comes, they buy the house, they go to the closing, just like any of us, and they know what to expect.

And it's a beautiful thing.

- All of this, though, when you look at the future, comes into really a very strategic approach on your end called Framing the Future.

And so talk about Framing the Future, and that will lead us into a CEO Build as well.

- Okay.

Well, we want to keep doing what we're doing and we need to do more.

We have been hovering around 15 to 20 houses a year for the last 10 years.

We did a new strategic plan and we talked to the community and we realized that we really needed to do more like 30 to 35 houses a year.

And so we quantified the strategic plan and it basically said we needed to raise $62 million over a five-year period to achieve our goals.

And we got a catalytic gift from MacKenzie Scott of $7.5 million a few years ago.

And we thought, okay, this is the moment.

The strategic plan was coming together, that gift arrived, and we realized that it was a moment we had to capitalize on.

And so here we are.

We're about halfway through the capital campaign.

We've raised or have commitments for about 75% of that $62 million.

So we still have a long way to go.

But the goal is to do about 150 homes over a 5-year period and another 1,200-plus critical repairs for older adults.

We also, through that campaign, opened our second ReStore.

And I'm hoping the audience knows what ReStore is.

- Well, go ahead and dive in because it's a powerful way to serve and give back and also volunteer too.

So talk about the ReStore.

- ReStore is our year-long fundraising mechanism where we receive donated items, household goods, and we resell them to the community.

I was just walking in and there's a line of 15 people waiting to get into the one in our Collierville location.

And so you can donate goods.

You can also come here and buy them.

And every dollar comes back into the organization and supports our efforts to build and sell homes to families and to repair them for older adults.

- Touch on the CEO Build.

This is another powerful way to serve and get involved, especially for our corporate leaders.

- Yes, CEO Build is a new concept that we're borrowing from some of our friends down in Tampa who've done it really well.

They've been able to bring the corporate community in and we want to do the same thing.

So our CEO Build is launching this year.

On October 9th, we're going to have a big event where we welcome the CEOs from the Memphis community to get involved, come out to the build site and build with us.

It's not just about construction, but it's about leadership and showing the independent contributors at your company that leadership matters and that you can come out and be a part of something important and give back to your community.

And so we're recruiting CEOs right now or top C-suite executives to be a part of CEO Build.

And when you give me a moment, I'll tell you where to find more information about that.

- Well, you have so many ways to get involved and volunteer and obviously financial contributions.

Go ahead and wrap up with where we can go to learn more and get involved.

- So you can find out anything, of course, about our organization by going to memphishabitat.com.

And for CEO Build, just do the slash CEO and you'll see more information about that.

- Well, Dwayne, thank you for all you and your amazing team do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you so much for having me, Jeremy.

[upbeat music] - They're a youth symphony program celebrating musical development in a fun, inclusive, collaborative community.

We're here with the Executive Director of Memphis Youth Symphony Program, Jenny Davis.

And let's start out-you know firsthand the power and impact of this program.

Give us a little bit of your background.

- Yeah, I sure do.

I'm from Memphis and I actually was in the Memphis Youth Symphony Program way back when, I play the flute.

And yeah, I got the opportunity to experience it firsthand.

And it took me many amazing places, thanks to the Youth Symphony.

- Celebrating 20 years as a standalone nonprofit, but a very long legacy.

Give us some history for the program.

- Sure.

So we officially began as an organization back in 1966.

So we are approaching our 60th anniversary.

We are part of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

And that went on for many decades.

And then in 2006, we became our own independent nonprofit.

And we still have a great relationship with the MSO.

So yeah, we've served over 4,000 alumni over the many years.

And I'm always finding, discovering people who were in the program that I didn't know about.

And it's always so exciting to see that we share that love of music.

- Well, let's dive in because you work with youth of different ages and different abilities, obviously.

So talk about how the program is structured.

- Yeah, so it's called the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, which may lead people to think that we are just one orchestra, one youth symphony, but we actually have seven ensembles.

And that is so that we can serve students who are just beginning, all the way through students who are quite advanced in their musical studies.

So we have students as young as six, seven years old, of course, all the way up through seniors in high school.

And we have orchestras and bands and string quartets, all sorts of opportunities for our students to participate in.

- Well, you are the premier symphony orchestra for youth here in Memphis.

And so talk about how the calendar year is structured for you.

- Yeah, so we rehearse kind of August through May, every single Sunday.

Our students convene and we have rehearsals at the University of Memphis.

We do hold auditions in May each year for the upcoming season.

And that just gives students an opportunity to practice the audition, you know, skill development, and also for us to place them in the group that kind of fits their level currently so that they have the best musical experience possible.

- For music for these, you know, youth, it's a powerful opportunity for character development, leadership, working with teams, and collaboration.

And so talk about the power of music.

- Yeah, I think there's so many benefits to learning an instrument or participating in music.

Of course, playing music is really fun.

You get to collaborate with other people.

But it does teach us so many things about ourselves and encourages us to grow in setting goals.

And you have something challenging that you have to learn.

You feel like, you know, how am I going to do this?

But then you do it.

So you build confidence and all while having fun.

So, I mean, what a great way to develop all of these different life skills that are really important.

- Touch on the power of the financial contributions, because when you talk about opening access for all ages and students and different ability levels and economic levels, I think that's a powerful piece, as well as for instruments and things like that, too.

So talk about the financial piece and why that's so important.

- Yeah, so we at the MYSP do everything we can to keep our tuition as low as possible.

It only covers a small portion of our operating expenses every year.

So we offer scholarships to any students who need that assistance.

We know learning an instrument, acquiring an instrument, taking lessons, it all comes with financial costs.

So we try to work with students as much as we can.

So any help that the community wants to provide is greatly appreciated.

And I've seen firsthand so many times how those scholarships really help and do change students' lives.

- You mentioned the number of alum.

Talk about some of the feedback from them in terms of what Memphis Youth Symphony Program has done for them with their career, their academics, scholarships, things like that.

- Participants in the Youth Symphony go on to all different kinds of careers.

Some do become professional musicians.

But the thing I hear the most from alumni- it's the memories and the community of being young and being around other young people who share a love of music.

And I think that's a gift they carry with them through their entire lives.

Even if they stop playing all the time, it's there if they want to bring it out.

And I think that just connects us to so many different people.

It allows us to connect in different ways in the past and future.

- Well, I think it's a powerful opportunity to build community, just like you're talking about, to build friendships and relationships and to build community.

And so speaking of community, how can the community get involved and support Memphis Youth Symphony Program?

- Yeah, well, we would love to invite the community to come hear our concerts.

We've got one coming up on May 10th.

It's our big finale, season finale concert.

You know, the students sound fantastic.

So I think it's just a great way to... I mean, it's inspiring for me to see young people performing and doing something at such a high level and having fun, come to a concert.

If you're interested in supporting the cause and donating, we would really appreciate that.

And you can find our concerts, our performances, volunteer opportunities at myspmusic.org and on social media.

We're on Facebook and Instagram.

Yeah, reach out if there's anything you want to become involved in with the Youth Symphony.

- Well, Jenny, thank you for all you and your amazing team do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you so much.

[upbeat music] - The Spark Awards annually recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the community.

The 2025 Corporate Award for companies with 151 employees or more went to ALCO Management, Inc.

- I'm Sarah Jemison.

I am the Chief Strategy Officer and head of the board of ALCO Management.

We are a 51-year-old affordable housing company that's been based in Memphis that whole time.

And we are dedicated to really three main things: providing quality affordable homes, quality jobs, and doing it for the long term.

We have homes across the southeast.

We have a little over 5,000 apartment units in about 50 communities.

Those can range in size from 15 units to almost 300.

Here in Memphis, we have about 14 communities and house, I think, a little above 2,000 families in those communities.

There are places across the city, unfortunately, where somebody could find a place to live for 400 or 500 bucks that's not quality- where it's not a place that a kid is safe to grow up.

It's not a place that you would want to live.

And so our goal is to be a community of quality and a community of choice.

It is the bread and butter of property management.

It's making sure that AC units are working, that heating is working, that water is going, that when we make repairs, we are making those repairs with the intention of someone being able to live there for the long term.

And we're going to also be looking at what we can provide in terms of amenities, whether that's a place for communities to gather.

We work hard to ensure that it is a high-quality place to live.

And that's something that we take a lot of pride in.

Every single role at ALCO is contributing to that overarching mission because we know that for the 2,000 families who are living in those properties, they are some of the families in Memphis who are struggling the most.

They sometimes have no income at all, up to about 30% of the area median income.

So there are a lot of challenges those families are facing.

We want it to be that when they come home to their apartment, they have a place where they really feel: "This is a place where I can thrive, where my family can thrive, where we can grow and flourish."

And that's ultimately our goal.

I really believe that if something can be done and accomplished in one of our communities, it can be accomplished across the city.

And so we want to be a testing ground for what can grow and be.

And so as we embed that commitment to quality, commitment to collaboration, that commitment to community in every single part of what we do, it's going to be what drives us forward, what makes us stronger as a company.

And so I think that that can be true in any industry, but it's certainly true for us as we provide homes.

[light-hearted music] - They're a network of companies with a higher purpose to lift our communities across Tennessee.

We're here with Neki Catron.

She is the Corporate Global Community Engagement, Inclusion, and Diversity Leader with Sylvamo and Chair of the Corporate Social Purpose Network with Volunteer Tennessee.

And so let's start out, Neki give us some background on Sylvamo, and then we'll talk about the CSP Network.

- Absolutely, thank you, Jeremy.

And to all of you, thank you for having me here.

Sylvamo is the world's paper company.

And it is just that, the world's paper company.

We use the world's most renewable resources to provide entertainment, education, and communication.

And so if you've heard of Hammermill, HP Paper, those types of papermaking, that is our brand.

So we are happy to be a part of the community.

We're happy to be a part globally of our communities.

And we leverage our products to leverage people and resources, community grants, strategic partnerships.

And we're just proud to be a part of the Volunteer Tennessee program.

- So you all are based here in Memphis.

You have a global reach.

Talk about your role, especially around community engagement, because I think that will lead us into the Corporate Social Purpose Network.

- Yes, and so the program that we have, we have three focus areas.

That's the environment, critical community needs, and education.

And we focus on those strategic areas to amplify not only our community but the people that we serve in those communities.

And so with that role, we are very excited to be a part, not only headquartered in Memphis, but we also have locations in Europe and Brazil.

So we have a very pivotal appearance in those communities.

- Let's switch over and talk about the Corporate Social Purpose Network with Volunteer Tennessee.

You being the chair, give us a little bit of an overview, and then we'll talk about all the amazing things the network does.

- So real quick overview about the network is that it is a Volunteer Tennessee-led initiative.

It is designed specifically for businesses and corporate leaders that are working in corporate social responsibility, community engagement, philanthropic services, employee volunteerism, as well as sustainability.

So we make sure that we connect our members, those senior leaders, those national companies, those global companies, and navigate how we can provide meaningful community impact work in today's environment for the state of Tennessee.

- Touch on some of the different things that the CSP Network does.

I know there's a big conference, there's all sorts of webinars.

So dive in a little bit to the kind of the programmatic side.

- Absolutely.

And this is what's so exciting because we also have a program called Purpose Exchange, and it focuses on how we as business professionals can navigate this changing environment, this changing climate.

It also helps us bridge the gap between those organizations.

What are we working on?

How can we connect as the community leaders so that we can kind of synergize some of the work?

So not sitting in silos, but identifying how, if we leverage all of us as these companies together, what impact can we have across our state?

How are you connecting with the community?

How are you reporting out on those metrics and what that looks like from a community impact standpoint?

But we also, as you stated, we also have an annual conference where all of us as community leaders can get together, talk about the work that we're doing, talk about the issues that are happening, and how we can be solution-driven and thought-provoking leaders in those spaces.

- So we recently held the conference.

Give us one of your personal takeaways.

- Our goal is to go beyond conversation and collective action, right?

How do we put those conversations, that great information that's provided at those conferences, how do we put that through collective action?

And that's what we're trying to do.

We're going to get these businesses together.

We're going to get these communities together.

We're going to create that statewide program.

As you talked about Delta Dental, the amazing work that they do in the Nashville area when you talk about the Smile program- and I know I'm not speaking it perfectly- but that program, when you bring children and families together and make sure that dental health is important.

How do us as community leaders and organizations, how can we leverage that community impact?

How can we make it a larger experience across the state?

And we are, what we're going to do is specifically challenge Tennessee and identify: what are those issues?

How can we be solution-driven?

How can we be thought-provoking leaders?

And move the needle and move the things where we will state: Tennessee is the state that you will want to lead your program.

You will want to get with them and identify that blueprint.

- The best part of all this with the CSP Network is, talk about the price and talk about how easy it is for businesses of all sizes to be involved.

- The pricing, I don't want to blow you away.

I don't want to turn everybody away when I talk about the pricing, but the pricing is zero.

You can be a part of this network for zero dollars.

I know, overwhelming, right?

But that's what you can be a part of this network.

And you will have the ability to engage some really, really amazing individuals that can give you some great knowledge to move forward.

So I don't think anywhere in the world you can get this type of knowledge for zero dollars.

And you can go on volunteertennessee.net, look up Corporate Social Purpose Network, and you can get right to the area where you need the link to sign up.

I encourage if you are a business leader, small, medium, large, global, national, local, you should join this network of individuals who have a common goal and purpose of, again, moving great conversation to collective action to grow and move the needle for our state of Tennessee.

- So volunteertennessee.net.

Neki, thank you for your leadership in this Corporate Social Purpose Network.

Talk about where we can learn more about Sylvamo.

- Absolutely.

You can go to sylvamo.com and I engage you and everyone that's seeing this to go out, look on what all we're doing at Sylvamo, the amazing work on the renewable resources of paper.

Paper is still relevant.

It's still great.

I know everyone loves their notes.

And paper is the way to communicate, entertain, and educate.

So I encourage everyone to go on sylvamo.com.

- Well, Neki, thank you for all you and your amazing team do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you, Jeremy.

And thank you for all the great work that you do for our community.

[upbeat music] - In Memphis, building a stronger future doesn't start in one place.

It starts in many.

It starts with a foundation, with walls raised by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, where a house becomes more than shelter.

It becomes stability, dignity, and the promise of something lasting.

It continues with the next generation.

Through the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, young people discover their voice, their talents and discipline, and their potential, learning not just how to play music, but how to shape their own future.

And it grows through connection.

When businesses and individuals come together through the Corporate Social Purpose Network and Volunteer Tennessee, they turn intention into action, mobilizing time, talent, and resources to strengthen the fabric of this community.

Each of these efforts may begin in different places, but they lead to the same destination.

Because when you lay a strong foundation, you create the conditions for opportunity.

When you invest in people, you unlock potential.

And when a community shows up together, you don't just change individual lives, you shape what comes next.

From foundation to future, this is how Memphis builds: one home, one student, one act of service at a time.

So where can you help power the good and become a spark?

To learn more about each of the guests, to watch past episodes, and to share your stories of others leading by example, visit wkno.org and click on the link for The Spark.

We look forward to seeing you next month, and we hope that you'll continue joining with us to create a spark for the Mid-South.

- From Higginbotham's founding in 1948, our insurance agency has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity, and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services is honored to be the presenting sponsor of The Spark.

[upbeat music] [acoustic guitar chords]