Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Workforce Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rise Memphis tells commissioners county investment unlocked large debt reduction but commissioners press for district‑level reporting
Summary
Rise Memphis reported that a $600,000 county investment helped leverage $880,925 in program funds and supported 2,421 residents and $8.68 million in documented personal debt reduction; commissioners pressed Rise on missed quarterly reports, asked for zip‑code breakdowns and clear accounting of funds passed to partner offices.
Rise Memphis presented results on April 22 from a county investment that executive director Malcolm Rawls said the nonprofit used to expand the Greater Memphis Financial Empowerment Center and related programs.
Rawls said the county's $600,000 was matched by $280,925 of Rise funds, bringing total program resources to $880,925, and that the program had served 2,421 residents and run 9,462 counseling sessions over 18 months. He told commissioners that clients had reduced $8.68 million in personal debt and grown cumulative savings by $575,329. Rawls described those figures as documented outcomes and characterized a conservative return of roughly $14.50 in debt reduction for every county dollar invested.
Commissioners pressed for more documentation and local detail. Several said they had requested quarterly reports and did not receive timely submissions during Rise's leadership transition. Commissioner Sugarman asked that Rise provide zip‑code‑level counts showing service reach in each commission district so commissioners could confirm investments reached their constituents.
Commissioners also asked Rise to clarify how funds were distributed to partnering county offices. Probate Clerk Eddie Jones said his office had been promised $50,000 for a legacy‑planning activity and that he had emailed Rise without receiving a response; Trustee Regina Newman said she would confirm what the Trustee's office had received. Commissioners asked Rise to provide a clear accounting of payments to partners and the schedule for any pass‑through funding.
Rawls acknowledged a reporting lapse during the leadership transition and committed to regular quarterly reporting going forward. He said the trustee office was a formal partner on the Greater Memphis Financial Empowerment Center and that the investment supported staff delivering counseling, matched savings and asset‑building programs, and small‑business seed grants. He said more than half of the county funds went to staff compensation (53%) to scale direct counseling and casework.
Commissioners asked for further written breakdowns of how the $600,000 was spent, the amounts that flowed to partner agencies (Trustee and Probate), zip‑code service data, and evidence of jobs created or businesses sustained through microenterprise support. Rise agreed to supply additional data and to improve reporting cadence.
