- This month on The SPARK our theme is "Stories Filled with Hope".

We'll learn about a nonprofit providing help and hope to neighbors in need, a tuition-free charter school network preparing students in grades pre-K through 12 to excel in college and life, and a woman-owned, award-winning integrated communications firm helping nonprofits share their story and increase their impact.

We'll also share a special moment from our SPARK Awards 2024.

- 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, My Town Movers, My Town Roofing, and by First Tee Tennessee - Memphis.

- 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 providing help and hope to neighbors in need.

We're here with the executive director of Catholic Charities of West Tennessee, George Nixon.

And let's start out, give us some history for Catholic Charities of West Tennessee.

- Thanks, Jeremy.

Yeah, Catholic Charities, we've been here on the corner of Jefferson and Cleveland for about 50 years, serving our neighbors in need whatever that need is.

You know, it's evolved over the years because the need is always changing.

Today we're focused primarily on homelessness and helping folks who kind of have fallen off the grid, so to speak, to kind of find that hope to bring them back and to find stability.

So, a lot of that happens right on our front porch.

Right in the front of our building, every day we're serving meal bags that will support people throughout the day.

And I tell you, the line out there is growing.

It's a disturbing thing to see, but we hand out about a little short of 200 meal bags a day.

And that used to last us about two hours.

It lasts us about 40 minutes these days.

It's just, they fly.

There's just so many more people showing up.

So the need is real and the need for people to show up as well to serve them is real.

So reaching out to our community and doing as much as we can there to really drive that message home that these are the people in need, and we have need too to serve, right?

- Go ahead and dive into all that you do, because it's a lot.

- Absolutely.

So, yeah, our front porch is really a trust-building place, right?

It's where we get to know them, they get to know us, we learn their name, they learn our names, and then that leads to additional conversations of, "Okay, you're not just hungry.

What else do you need?"

Usually that's, "I need a place to clean up, "I need a shower.

"I need to feel clean, "I need to feel dignified."

I need a new set of clothes."

We see a lot of people, you'd be surprised, who don't even have shoes.

You look down, and they have plastic bags on their feet.

It's shocking.

So it's just, what's that next step?

We're always looking at what's that next win?

'Cause if you can get somebody on a trajectory of, "Okay, now I've got this, now I've got this, now I've got this," and they get that sense of momentum of, "Oh, I can improve my life," well, then we can start having conversations about, "Well, let's get you on the track to housing, "Let's get you on the track to job placement, Let's get you on the track to mental or addiction services."

Like, what's that next win?

But a lot of it just starts with, "I just need a shower.

"That would be a win today.

"I just need some clothes.

That would be a win today."

So that's what we provide, is just taking them on that journey from poverty to self-sufficiency.

- You also have a clothing store where women and children can go and shop with dignity.

Talk about that aspect.

- Right, so we call it a store 'cause it's set up like a department store.

It's somewhere where women and children can come and have that experience of shopping.

Of course they don't pay anything, but it's set up in a way so they can go and have that dignity of choice.

We're not just handing them a plastic bag with something they may or may not like or may not even be the right size, you know?

It's something they get to go through and really pick out the styles and things that work for them.

We're very picky about what we put on those racks.

It can't have any stains, it can't have any broken buttons, zippers, it has to be in style.

You're not gonna find frumpy clothes in there that are way out of style, you know?

You're gonna find things that people are wearing out, you know, ordinarily, and that look good and that look dignified, right, 'cause that's the whole message that we're trying to promote here.

- You have many volunteer opportunities, one of which I know is a mobile food pantry.

So talk about that.

- Yeah, so we have a mobile food pantry.

We serve about, I would say, 2,000 to 2,200 families a month.

This has become a more, again, speaking of rising demand, a lot of other mobile pantries in the area have shut down recently due to funding constraints.

So ours has seen extra inflow recently.

And, yeah, so cars kind of funnel through Monday through Thursday in one of our side lots.

We're handing out meal boxes.

And that's really intended for those who are at risk of homelessness.

The food inside those boxes really require a home or a kitchen to cook it like dried beans and things like that, or canned goods.

But what it's meant to do is offset expenses.

So, many of the people that we're supporting have told us that they often have to choose between, you know, paying the rent, paying utilities, or having a meal, right?

And so often they're going hungry because they're just trying to afford to keep the lights on.

So that food box is really meant to eliminate that choice.

"Oh, I can eat and I can pay my rent."

Which is crazy for me to think about that that's where people are, but it's a reality.

We recently did surveys out there, and that's what people were telling me.

"Yes, I've gone hungry because I couldn't afford both my rent and my grocery bill."

So, yeah, just keeping people on that lifeline.

But again, that's where we're building trust.

We're getting to know people and our ambition is to provide more services so they don't have to have that choice at all in the future.

They can get out of the line, so to speak, right?

That's our goal, ultimately.

- Carry that into how can the community help your efforts.

- Right.

I would think the first thing is just come and get interested.

You know, we are always running tours.

We're sharing what we're doing now and we're sharing our vision for the future.

And on those tours, people come, they don't really know how to be involved.

But once they see what we're doing and they hear what we're doing and they hear what we're trying to accomplish, the bells start going off with like, "Oh, I could be involved in this," or "I know a person who does plumbing" or "I know," you know?

The connections just kind of naturally come from those conversations.

So the easiest way to get involved or to help us out is just come out and see us.

Come see what we do.

Give me a call, you know, or send me an email.

Let me know you wanna come down for a tour.

We'd love to meet anybody who's interested in what we're doing.

And I just, there's so many like threads of providence that I see anytime somebody comes that, to me, that's the gateway.

Come see us, come get to know us, and then everything kind of flows from there of how to be involved.

- Wrap up with contact information.

So where do we go to learn more and get involved with Catholic Charities of West Tennessee?

- Easiest place to go is just our website, ccwtn.org.

So it's Catholic Charities of West Tennessee is what it stands for.

So ccwtn.org.

Everything goes from there.

If you wanted to reach me, it's george.nixon@ccwtn.org.

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

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thanks, Jeremy.

Appreciate you.

[upbeat music] - They're a tuition-free charter school network preparing students for success in college and life.

We're honored to have with us Johnecia Howard.

She's the executive director of Freedom Prep Academy Tennessee.

And let's start out, give us some background on Freedom Prep Academy Tennessee.

- Hi, Jeremy.

First, thank you for having me.

Freedom Prep is an amazing educational institution.

We actually were founded in 2009 by Ms. Roblin Webb, who is currently our CEO.

And so we've been at this for a little over 15 years.

Actually had our 15th year anniversary last year.

We are a tuition-free public charter school right here in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee.

We serve communities in both Westwood and Whitehaven.

And just this past year, we actually opened up our first elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama.

So the work that we are doing is now multi-state, and we are super excited about it.

- Talk about some of the things that really set you apart.

When you talk about being a tuition-free public charter school, what does that mean?

Talk about the culture, the independence, the things that really allow you to be special.

- Yeah, great question.

We call it our secret sauce.

And so what makes Freedom Prep special is one, we believe heavily in making sure that our students have access to things that they wouldn't normally have access to if they didn't attend Freedom Prep.

And so whether that's the opportunity to go on what we call Freedom Lessons, where they get to go literally all over the country to visit different historical sites and just get out of Memphis and see some things, again, that they may not have exposure to otherwise is very important to us.

Additionally, character education is like number one.

Just important that students know who they are and who they should be before they get into the world.

And three, we're trying to prepare our students for college.

And so, big picture, all of our graduates over the last eight years have been accepted to colleges.

And I think that's attributed to our school leaders, our teachers and our families who really rallied around our kids to know and to empower them with what they need to be successful once they step on a college campus.

- Obviously, the success rate for the college acceptance, that's huge.

Talk about some of the other things that really put a smile on your face, like TVAAS and Reward School.

So talk about some of those success metrics and rewards that you all are receiving.

- Absolutely.

So our students are growing every single year.

And so our Millbranch Campus particularly is a back-to-back Reward School, which means that every year, our students are growing and achieving at rapid rates in comparison with other schools in the state of Tennessee.

This past year, all five of our Memphis schools were TVAAS Level 5, which is the highest reward you could get in the state of Tennessee for academic growth and achievement.

And so we are rocking and rolling.

Our kids are doing well, our teachers are knocking it out of the park.

And our job as a network team is to make sure they have everything they need in order to be able to do their jobs at a high level and make sure we remove any barriers that traditionally some schools may have.

- Talk about Advanced Placement.

- Yeah, so for us, last year, we offered about 11 Advanced Placement courses, which are essentially college placement courses that students can take in high school.

And they are tough.

I mean, literally, our kids are taking college classes in the classroom.

And last year, seventy-five percent of our students enrolled in those courses passed those tests.

That is astronomical.

And so we're very proud of our students and teachers who garner our AP courses and make sure that they're successful as what we've seen this past year.

- You mentioned the focus on character.

And so taking a holistic approach, obviously, academics is a big piece of this, but also too there's arts and athletics.

Talk about some of those other components for the students.

- Yeah, so right now, we offer athletics for all of our students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

We have everything from basketball to rugby, and we're always looking to add additional sports at our schools.

In the fine arts, we offer literally fine arts beginning in elementary school.

And so our students have access to choir, to music, all different types of things.

We even offer foreign languages in elementary school.

And so again, we want our students to have access to as many things as they can, so that when they do go to college, they are ready and they feel equipped and as confident as anybody else in the country.

- Give us maybe one of your favorite parts of Freedom Prep.

So when you talk about your experience and what you have a chance to see with the growth and the students and the success, what's one of your favorite parts?

- Yeah, so as a former educator in the schools, I've been a high school principal, I've been an elementary dean of students, assistant principal, you see literally thousands of kids.

And what made me personally choose Freedom Prep was the fact that one, we build genuine, authentic relationships with every student in our building.

So our kids aren't numbers to us, they are absolutely people.

Most recently, I had the opportunity to sit alongside one of our students at the high school who participated in the National Geographic photography camp.

She has a desire to go on and become an architect.

And so for me, that moment of being able to see one of our students who really has been with us for quite a while choose a profession, choose a college major that aligns with something that she learned about while she was here was phenomenal.

And I'll never forget her or her family.

- How can the community help Freedom Prep?

- Yeah, honestly, we want you to come in.

We want you to see what we have to offer.

Our enrollment team is amazing.

This year, we are looking to increase our enrollment even more than we ever have before.

They are always in the community.

And so reaching out to us on freedomprep.org is one way.

Scheduling a tour so you and your family can come check us out is another opportunity.

And always following us on all social media platforms is another way to come learn more about us.

- And so you never can say it enough in the world of media.

Mention again website, where do we go to learn more and take those next steps with Freedom Prep?

- Yep.

So you wanna go to www.freedomprep.org, and we're on all social media platforms, specifically Facebook and Instagram.

- Well, Johnecia, thank you for all you and your amazing team at Freedom Prep Academy Tennessee do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you for having us, Jeremy.

We look forward to welcoming all of our new students and teachers who are interested for the upcoming school year.

Thank you.

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

The 2024 Individual Collegiate Award went to Anthony Miles.

[solemn music] - My name is Anthony Miles.

I'm currently a devout follower in Jesus Christ, born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee.

I'm at the University of Memphis getting ready to graduate in December.

So, excited about that.

And right now I'm currently a member of Empowered Men of Color as well.

Empowered Men of Color is an organization mainly devoted to increasing the retention rates of minority black males on campus.

Since the creation of Empowered Men of Color, the mission has shifted in a way in which it's not only to increase the retention rates, but more so to give minority black males a way to help increase their leadership, not only academically, but after they graduate.

So giving them tools and everything that they need.

I started off as community service chair in Empowered Men of Color.

So during that time, I was able to put events together where we went out to serve the community.

In addition to that, as I matriculated over to president of Empowered Men of Color, I was able to put in leadership workshops where people came in to talk about different life-needed skills.

In addition to that, having conferences where people come in and speak about important topics of society today.

And also, as student advisor, my main mission is to help, not only give the exec board and committee chairs what they need to succeed and what they need to give members to succeed, but helping them get where they need to be, not only while they're in school, but what they need for after school.

The Alternative Break Experience is one of the first organizations I've gotten, was involved in starting off.

And so before getting involved in the organization, I had no idea what service was and how important service was.

But getting involved in Alternative Break Experience, which is an organization, or more so a program, that allows student leaders to prep a trip.

And so my first time being involved in Alternative Break Experience, I was able to go to Peru, Pucallpa, where I was able to serve a community, a different community that wasn't like the one that I've always grown up in.

Coming into college, I didn't expect to do anything outside of getting a degree.

I have a passion to serve now.

And so being able to be around like-minded students and being able to lead those students helped my ability to serve in ways that I could have never imagined starting off in college.

My grandma always told me that people will never, people may forget what you say, people may forget what you do, but people may never forget how you make them feel.

And so that's carrying me out throughout my entire life.

Always be willing to serve others no matter what.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, you're always gonna be making, you're always gonna be serving somebody.

So how you're serving is very much important.

So, in anything you do, make sure you have that heart to serve.

[solemn music] - They're a woman-owned, award-winning integrated communications firm.

We're here with the founder and CEO of Wilson Public Relations, Beth Wilson.

And let's start out, give us a little bit of your background and what led you to launch Wilson Public Relations.

- Hi, Jeremy, thank you so much for having me on today.

I'm grateful to be here.

Yeah, so I launched Wilson Public Relations back in 2021 after born and raised in Memphis and had always thought, you know, I wanted to start my own business.

And it wasn't until after going through the executive MBA program and getting some encouragement from former bosses, as well as going through the Co.Starters Program with Epicenter, and then working at a full service agency here in Memphis that I decided I wanted to go down the path of being an agency owner, and specifically focusing on public relations because I felt that there was a need, especially here in the Memphis area and our region.

So, it's been four and a half, nearly five years, since I've launched, and we've grown our team and the services and the clients and the industries that we serve is continuing to grow, and we're so grateful for that.

- Give us a little bit of an a la carte menu for all the amazing things you do at Wilson Public Relations.

- Sure.

So I like to say that we focus on the three primary areas of media, earned, shared and owned media.

And the earned media being any kind of, you know, media relations, media outreach.

If a company has a big announcement or they are expanding, they're opening a new division, they've won an award, whatever that may be.

Also, if something is happening in their industry on a national scale that we wanna localize or pitch them as an expert resource to speak on behalf of it, that's what we do.

And we're kind of keeping tabs on that on all of our clients' industries.

And then there's the owned media portion as well, which is all about thought leadership, right?

It's ghostwriting, it's website copy development, it's blog posts.

It's anything that we're trying to draft content that shows that our client is the expert resource or the thought leader in that industry.

And then there's the shared media portion as well, which encompasses mainly social media.

That's not something that we technically lead with, unless it's a certain type of client.

However, we certainly use social media, specifically LinkedIn, as a tool to amplify the message of our, what the message we're trying to tell on behalf of our clients.

- Talk about community engagement and why working with nonprofits is so important.

- It's really important because oftentimes they don't have the resources, financial means to do it themselves or they have limited capacity.

And this is something that is so near and dear to me because if you look on our website, you see our core values, and I really find that our core values are very much in line with a lot of nonprofits that we support.

And I feel like that's so important because they have the most amazing stories and, you know, success stories, why people get involved, their why, why I support X, Y, Z organization.

And it's so impactful in telling these stories because there's so many other ones out there like it but their stories haven't been told yet.

And they can find a way to identify with it and say, "Oh my gosh, I've gone through that same exact thing.

I need to look more into this organization."

It's so important because these organizations do so much good for our community, and they need all the help that they can get, especially in times like these.

So I feel like it's really important for us to ensure that community engagement stays top of mind.

- You yourself serve on boards.

Talk about a couple of nonprofits that are near and dear to you personally.

- Absolutely.

So one of those being 901Women.

It's the fundraising and development arm for all women's athletics for University of Memphis.

So, I really helped to go in and work with our student athletes to, I'm a former student athlete, so to work with these young leaders and their coaches and their staff to ensure that they're set up for success.

Both while they're in college, going through it.

And, you know, with NIL and all of that's brought about, just ensuring that they feel like that they have the resources to succeed in both college and then post-college as well, helping them with their professional development.

Also, Liza's Light has been a part of that too.

So I'm very honored to have been a part of the committee that helped bring the campaign to build a stadium in Liza Wellford Fletcher's honor to the University of Memphis to be the women's and men's soccer facility, as well as track.

So that's near and dear to my heart too, especially as a runner and a former Tiger.

And then I'm involved in a number of different things at University of Memphis with the marketing, supply chain management on the board there.

And then with University High School, I served as a Workforce Advisory Committee member and mentor there, as well as with the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media, serving as a mentor and advisor and a donor there.

And there's things like American Heart Association.

I'm honored to have been a Woman of Impact Class of 2025 member this year.

And then Madonna Learning Center is near and dear to my heart, as well as AngelStreet and other organizations like Clean Memphis, Project Green Fork, the Sow Project here in Memphis and Volunteer Odyssey, of course.

- Give us a tip to be more impactful with our storytelling.

- Sure.

I think the first thing is consider your audience, right?

While the message, the foundational message might be the same, that you're talking to with each audience, you do need to tweak it depending on who it is that you're talking to, whether it's the donor base, prospective donors, media, general public, that you just need to, you know, share information about your organization to ensure that they know what it is that, what message you're trying to get across.

So I think considering your audience and making sure that that's two-way dialogue, right?

You wanna have a conversation with them, not just speak to them, speak with them.

And then transparency and authenticity.

That's what gets the message across, that's what's gonna hook them.

And so what I was talking about earlier, you know, sharing these stories, these why stories, I think is really impactful and really shows the impact that these organizations make on our community.

- So where do we go to learn more about Wilson Public Relations?

- Well, thank you.

So, go to our website, wilsonpublicrelations.com, or you can follow us on any social media channel, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all of our contact information is on our website as well.

- Well, Beth, 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.

I appreciate it.

Go Tigers!

[upbeat music] - In this month's episode, you heard stories, not just of challenges, but of resilience, not just of need, but of action.

These are stories filled with hope.

Hope looks like a child at Freedom Prep discovering the power of her own voice.

It looks like a family receiving food, clothing, and shelter, and regaining dignity and hope, thanks to Catholic Charities of West Tennessee.

And it looks like a company like Wilson Public Relations, using its voice and expertise to lift others up and remind us what Memphis is capable of when we tell our stories with truth and purpose.

These organizations don't work in isolation.

They're threads in the larger fabric of our community woven together by compassion, courage, leadership, and action.

They remind us that hope isn't something we wait for, it's something we build together.

Memphis needs your heart, your hands, and your voice to create more stories filled with hope.

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]