Home  ||  Job Opportunities  ||  Employees  ||  Contact Us      Welcome   ||   Mission   ||   MIFA-at-a-Glance   ||   History   ||   The MIFA Store   ||   Tours History of the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association 1. Diversification and Unity: 1968-1988 Researched and written by Selma Lewis Edited by Jeanne Tacket and Ellen Abbay Preface During its first twenty years, MIFA has listened to the voices of people in pain in the community, and has worked to develop programs to ease their suffering. This has been done with a small, dedicated staff of full-time leaders, and a larger number of part-time employees and volunteers. With such an urgent focus, there has been little time or energy, especially in the early days, for keeping complete, accurate records. Only sketchy documentation exists of the way the organization grew. Thus, there are probably errors in the story presented here. MIFA's priorities have not included much looking back, until now. This twentieth anniversary of the founding of MIFA has prompted the desire to take a look at the origins and events of these years. For a historian, twenty years is a relatively short period of time to study. But is already too late to capture impressions of some of the founders and early leaders, who are unfortunately no longer alive. The rationale for writing this story at the twenty-year mark is to gather the ideas and thoughts of the people involved in those years before any more of them are lost to us. In the absence of adequate records, the only way this history could have been attempted was to consult many individuals with knowledge and memories of the events that occurred. I wish to thank them for the unfailing generosity and cooperation with which they answered questions and offered impressions and thoughts. Their contributions have been crucial to this work. Special appreciation goes to Gid Smith for patient explanations and kind support always. Chapters: Introduction A Time of Upheaval & Change The Awakening of the Social Conscience A New Approach The Sanitation Strike Growing Crops in Clay The Phoenix Phenomenon The Smith-Dempsey Partnership The VISTA Impact The Ice is Broken The Last Half of the 70's The Maturing Years MIFA People Religious Roots and Branches MIFA Moves to 910 Vance MIFA Responds to Emerging Needs The Future MIFA Board Members 1968-1988 MIFA Vista Roll II. Offering a Hand Up to Our Neighbors in Need: 1968-1998 The history of MIFA's first twenty years was researched and written by Selma Lewis, Ph. D., and edited by Jeanne Tacket and Ellen Abbay. The following has been researched, written and edited by Selma Lewis and Marjean Kremer. Preface During its thirty years, The Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) has listened to the voices of people in pain in Memphis and has worked to ease their suffering. This it has done with a small, dedicated full- and part-time staff and large numbers of dedicated volunteers. With such an urgent focus, there has been little time or energy, especially in the early years, for the keeping of complete records. Only sketchy documentation exists of the way the organization grew; thus, there may be errors in the history presented here. This thirtieth anniversary of MIFA's founding has prompted (as it did for the celebration of 20 years of MIFA in 1988) a look at the origins and the continually evolving programs and philosophy. In 1988 it was already too late to capture the impressions of some of the founders and early leaders who were no longer alive. In addition to utilizing what records were available from the early years and the more complete documentation of the latter ones, this history has been written only after consultations with many individuals with knowledge of these years. We wish to thank them for the generosity with which they answered our questions and offered their impressions; such cooperation has been crucial to this work. Chapters: Introduction A Time of Upheaval and Change The Awakening of Social Conscience A New Approach The Sanitation Strike MIFA Founded in September, 1968 Smith Hired as Part-Time MIFA Executive Director The Smith-Dempsey Partnership The VISTA Impact The Search for a Sound Financial Base Charter Broadened Cases for Emergencies Feeding the Hungry Moves MIFA Working With and For Older Americans Helping People Help Themselves MIFA Opens New Doors for Families in Crisis Accountability on the Business Side / Kindness on the Program Side Religious Roots and Branches MIFA Responds to Emerging Needs The Future 2006 Copyright MIFA - Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association Any forwarding, unauthorized access or reproduction, or distribution of printed copies of this electronic product, in full or in part, without written permission of the publisher, violates Federal copyright law. MIFA - 910 Vance Avenue - Memphis, TN - 38126 - (901) 527-0208