North Memphis Community Alliance, CDC

Revitalizing New Chicago together — affordable housing, economic development, and community programs for North Memphis.

The North Memphis Community Alliance, CDC is a nonprofit community development corporation dedicated to revitalizing the New Chicago and North Memphis area. Serving as the intermediary between residents, government agencies, and private investors, NMCA makes sure the community's voice shapes every development decision — while building and rehabbing 200 homes, creating 300 jobs, and running 20 community programs from its home at 1224 Chelsea Avenue.

What NMCA Does

New Housing Development

Building affordable single-family and multifamily homes to raise property values and make New Chicago a neighborhood families choose — 200 homes to be built or rehabbed.

Home Rehabilitation

Renovating and improving existing homes so every resident has access to safe, affordable housing — revitalizing the block without displacing the people on it.

Economic Development & Jobs

Creating sustainable economic growth and 300 new jobs — boosting the local economy and opening career doors for North Memphis workers.

Community Programs

Twenty social programs providing support and resources to help New Chicago residents thrive — from community resources to resident advocacy.

Sacred Ground: The Firestone Legacy

New Chicago is hallowed ground in Memphis labor history. This neighborhood was home to the Firestone Tire plant, where United Rubber Workers Local 186 became one of the most significant integrated union locals in the South — thousands of North Memphis families built middle-class lives on that union contract. When the plant closed in 1983, the union jobs left and the neighborhood paid the price. NMCA's work to rebuild New Chicago — homes, jobs, and community power — is the work of restoring what deindustrialization took away.

A Community Partner of Labor Education

Rebuilding New Chicago and rebuilding worker power are the same fight. NMCA's 200 homes need skilled builders — a natural pathway into union apprenticeships and the building trades — and its 300 new jobs belong in the hands of North Memphis workers earning family-supporting wages. Labor Education is proud to stand with NMCA in the neighborhood where Local 186 proved that Black and white workers organizing together could change the South. Contact: (901) 303-8566 · admin@nmemca.org · 1224 Chelsea Ave., Memphis, TN 38107.

Connect with North Memphis Community Alliance, CDC

Want to get involved, partner, or learn more? Reach out through their website.