Two major resources leveraged across the country in support of the community development industry come from the public programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the federal law, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA is a law designed in 1977 to combat discrimination in banking and encourage banks to equitably contribute to financial opportunity and community development across its full service area.

In Memphis, the CRA law has been used to combat discriminatory lending practices that contribute to Redlining in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. The most notable, following the 2009 housing crisis as subprime mortgage loans caused African American families in Shelby County to lose economic wealth. The most recent federal enforcement of the CRA leading to local settlements were in 2022 and 2024. 

Hello Memphis! We are very excited to send you this month's Legislative Update. Find below updates from the City, County, State, and National Legislative Agencies.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the May Happy Hour Members Meeting on Wednesday, May 14, at The Commons on Merton. We’re grateful for your time and thoughtful engagement during our discussion on Housing and Land Value Taxation. Please take a moment to review our recap and complete a brief survey on your experience.

For 25 years, BLDG Memphis (Build. Live. Develop. Grow.), has been a community development association focused on creating self-sufficient neighborhoods by supporting its Members, advocating for equitable policies, and promoting civic engagement throughout the Memphis region. Continuing in our tradition of being Memphis' community development convener, we are excited to launch the Memphis Small Business Ecosystem Building Project.

Strong leaders support strong neighborhoods. BLDG Memphis along with our partners MICAH Memphis, NAACP, Frayser CDC and LISC Memphis will host a nonpartisan candidate forum in the lead up to the Shelby County Municipal election in August. The questions posed to the candidates during the forum will focus on issues of neighborhood investment. Prior to the event on July 19, candidates submitted a questionnaire responding to questions related to affordable housing, transit & mobility, solid waste & litter, and racial equity. Here are the responses from candidates running for County Commissioner.