So what does a leaky roof have to do with school attendance and workplace performance—and why was that front and center at the 2025 Memphis Housing Summit?
Well, that leaky roof runs down the drywall, feeding a patch of mold. That mold sets off a child’s asthma and breathing issues, forcing the family to keep the kid home from school. A parent inevitably misses work, and the lost pay can lead to serious financial strain.
Those ripple effects underscored the summit’s central message: Housing is a “root-cause” solution that underpins everything from public health to generational wealth. Hosted at Memphis Botanic Garden on Feb. 21, the event kicked off with panelists linking stable, affordable homes to better outcomes—whether measured in school performance, lower medical bills or safer neighborhoods. The panelists were:
- Memphis Mayor Paul Young
- Ashley Cash, Director of Memphis Housing & Community Development
- Roshun Austin, Executive Director of The Works, LLC
- Ruth Ann Norton, President of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative
Just weeks after delivering his “Era of Yes” State of the City address, Young leaned in further, saying that you can’t fix crime, poverty or educational gaps without first ensuring people have safe places to call home.
“When we talked about the ‘Era of Yes,’ it was really about saying yes to the things our community needs to grow,” Young said. “Nobody’s saying we’re done with issues like crime, but as we address root causes — like where people can live and how they can afford it — we start changing outcomes for the entire community.
“I think housing is foundational,” he continued. “We need more ideas, more innovations, and more ways to say yes to the things that help our city grow.”
By the way, that scenario with the asthmatic child wasn’t made up. Norton has the data to back it up, referring to two studies her organization did for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“By fixing leaks, removing lead paint, and addressing ventilation issues, we saw a 62 percent improvement in children’s school attendance – and an 88 percent improvement in parents’ work attendance,” Norton said. “This goes straight to the idea that stable housing means healthier families who can stay out of the ER and in the classroom or on the job.”
While big housing projects often hog the headlines, Austin stressed that true progress depends on uplifting smaller, locally based developers – especially those committed to “infill” projects in underinvested neighborhoods. She pointed out that most policy conversations focus on large-scale, out-of-town developers, leaving community-rooted builders overlooked.
“Often we talk about development, we think about larger developers—most of them coming from out of town, or community development corporations doing multi-million-dollar projects,” she said. “We forget about the people who are already there, who have a tie to these places and an interest in rebuilding their own communities. And the policies of government and financial institutions often make it hard not just for the prospective home buyer, but for the home builder as well.”
HCD director Ashley Cash, who acted as moderator, underscored the need to nurture smaller, community-rooted developers – particularly those tackling infill work in distressed neighborhoods.
“There are folks out there who’ve been doing the work,” she said, “and then there’s this huge segment of what I would call emerging to mid-range developers. Maybe they’ve done a couple of projects, but they can’t quite get to that next step.”
Cash added that the city government is eager to partner with these local builders. By widening access to financing, training and supportive policy, she explained, smaller-scale developers could help revitalize blighted properties and expand affordable housing at a neighborhood level.
“By fixing leaks, removing lead paint, and addressing ventilation issues, we saw a 62 percent improvement in children’s school attendance – and an 88 percent improvement in parents’ work attendance”
Memphis Housing & Community Development Director Ashley Cash
“We know we can’t do it alone, and we don’t want to do it alone,” she said. “It’s more beneficial when we all are working together, especially to break down barriers in this ‘era of yes.’”
While the summit covered plenty of policy details, Young also floated broader ideas such as a local guaranteed-income pilot. He called it another way to tackle “root issues” like eviction cycles and chronic poverty.
The summit also delved into guaranteed income as a potential strategy to break the cycle of poverty and housing instability. Mayor Paul Young explained that small, predictable cash infusions – often in the range of $500 to $1,000 a month – can keep families afloat through rent spikes, unexpected medical bills or hardships, ultimately preventing more expensive crises down the road.
“If I’m able to inject $500 or $1,000 monthly into a family’s life, we don’t have to decide for them how they spend it,” Young said. “All the data shows their outcomes improve – parents miss work less, kids stay in class, and there’s less overall stress. Poverty is debilitating. If we can do something to change that trauma in people’s lives, we should figure out how to make it happen.”
Beyond policy discussions, the summit highlighted the collective effort required to reshape Memphis’ housing landscape. Sessions throughout the day addressed everything from innovative funding models to strengthening community-led development.
Attendees, including nonprofit leaders, developers and policymakers, shared insights on tackling housing disparities, ensuring affordability, and promoting long-term neighborhood stability. The event underscored a shared goal: making safe, quality housing the foundation for a stronger Memphis.
