The Vance Avenue Collaborative held a neighborhood meeting at the community outreach center at St. Patrick's Church on Wednesday, but people were not there to talk about their religion or to enjoy church. Instead, they were there to discuss the situation involving Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing, previously Cleaborn Homes which was demolished and rebuilt, and Foote Homes.
Students from the University of Memphis were there, as well, to support the residents who want to protect Foote Homes from being demolished.
Two residents, in particular, were very concerned about what the city has in store for both communities.
Betty Isom lived in Foote Homes 30 years ago and raised her children there.
"None of my kids got hurt there. It was simply a good place to live in when I was there," Isom said. "They have already torn Clearborn Homes down. We just want them to remodel (Foote Homes)."
Former U of M student Nicole Cleaborn, who graduated from the University in 2009, is part of the family for whom Clearborn Homes was named. The site was named after Nicole's uncle, a Korean war hero.
"People didn't know much about the history. People that didn't live in the neighborhood felt that the homes should be demolished," said Nicole. "When the history about the community got out to a lot of people, things started to happen."
Cleaborn Homes was first built during the 1950's, the beginning stages of the Civil Rights Era, but, according to Cleaborn, blacks and whites were able to talk in the same neighborhood with one another.
"I started going on different radio stations to talk about the situation," Cleaborn said. "When veterans from the military heard about the situation, they were not pleased with what was going on and got involved as well."
Since then, Nicole has tried to stay involved with the proposed revitalization efforts for Foote Homes, as well.
"It has been a big issue since 2009," said Nicole. "I understand stockholders and investors want to make money, but let the people stay in their homes. It is only being fair."
The deadline to submit a plan for a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is Tuesday. This will be part of the plan for revitalizing Foote Homes and the surrounding area.
The Memphis Housing Authority plans to submit its own plan that calls for Foote Homes to razed and rebuilt.
Nicole hopes if a plan is approved by HUD it will highlight the will of the people who live in the area.
"It is sad that the people who need help the most gets the short end of the stick," said Nicole. "These people are not being treated fairly at all. It's like they are being pushed to the side."
