After 32 years, Memorial Community Development Corp looks to its next chapter

“No matter where you go, you’re going to run into community. In fact, there is no church without community. There’s no business without community. There’s no government without community. There’s no school without a community.”

Those were among the opening words shared by McKenzie Scott Lewis at Memorial Community Development Corp.’s annual luncheon last week, where the organization celebrated 32 years of service in Evansville.

“Why? Because community matters to God. And it matters to us,” Lewis said. “God is community.”

Lewis, the keynote speaker, is senior director of Congregations with Community (CWC), a division of the Center for Congregations that helps Indiana congregations build partnerships with the communities around them through funding, technical support and other resources.

The work is rooted in the idea that congregations can do more than exist within a community — they can work alongside residents to respond to local needs.

In many ways, it is a model Memorial has put into practice for more than three decades.

Faith in Action

Founded in 1994 under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Adrian M. Brooks Sr. and approximately 50 members of Memorial Baptist Church, Memorial Community Development Corp. grew from the belief that the church’s work should extend beyond its walls and respond to the needs of the surrounding community.

Over the years, that commitment has taken many forms, including affordable housing and homeownership, early childhood education, youth development and employment, economic opportunity, family support and access to health care.

“Memorial Community Development Corp. is our faith with legs,” Brooks said. “Our faith motivates the work that we do.”

For some families, that work has now reached across generations.

When Investment Comes Full Circle

The impact can be seen in people such as Ishaiah Williams, who served as emcee for the luncheon. “I am a product of Memorial,” Williams said.

She first came to the organization as a teenager through its Youth Employment Program, working in the community garden.

After graduating from Indiana State University, Williams returned to the Youth Employment Program as a garden supervisor. She later served Memorial in several roles, including the childcare director, and now works as an administrator in the housing and development department. Today, her children also attend Memorial’s childcare program.

“It is a full-circle moment,” Williams said. “I am giving back, and one day, I hope they will give back to the organization that gave so much to me.”

Williams’ story is one example of a legacy that now spans generations. Memorial’s work continues each day through programs serving children, young people, families and residents across Evansville.

During the luncheon, Executive Director Serita Cabell presented the organization’s 2025 Impact Report, highlighting outcomes across eight programs and services: childcare, civic journalism in partnership with Our Times Newspaper, emergency repair, family services, Fit Camp, the Garden Market, youth development and youth employment.

Approximately 320 people were served through those programs.

But another number offered a glimpse into the needs residents are bringing to the organization.

Family Services Coordinator Tamika Goines documented the purpose of calls received throughout the year, allowing Memorial to track the types of assistance people were seeking.

“Last year, 922 calls were taken,” Cabell said, “and one of the top needs was housing.”

Memorial responds to housing needs in part through its portfolio of 174 rental units and two commercial properties. An additional eight-unit rental development is under construction and expected to open in 2027.

The luncheon celebrated what Memorial has built, but it also focused on where the organization is going next.

Its theme, “Replanting the Seed,” pointed toward that next chapter.

Replanting the Seed

Cabell said the theme took on deeper meaning during a year of transition. The idea emerged from conversations with Community Youth Pastor LeVar St. Germain, Wendy Chinn and other staff members as they considered what families need to thrive.

For Memorial, replanting can mean creating renewed opportunities or providing the support people need to grow. That idea is shaping both existing programs and new initiatives.

One example is Memorial’s childcare center expansion, which will create more openings for families seeking affordable, high-quality care. In Indiana, 64% of children have all available parents in the workforce, while care costs an average of $16,478 per year, or $1,373 per month. Memorial’s sliding fee scale, offered alongside market-rate tuition, can make care more accessible based on family income. Construction is underway, and the project is 70% funded; Memorial is seeking support for the remaining 30%.

Visibility is another priority.

Cabell said more people need to know the stories behind Memorial’s programs and the lives they have touched.

“We have so many examples of the connections that have been made and people that have come through these doors,” she said. “The stories are countless.”

Cabell also expressed gratitude for the volunteers, donors and community partners whose support has enabled Memorial to continue its mission over the years.

But replanting a seed, Lewis told the audience, is only part of the process.

The soil matters, too.

The Soil Matters

Lewis used the metaphor to explain why restoration requires more than simply taking something from one place and putting it somewhere new.

A seed needs the right soil. It needs the right tools, care and timing to grow.

In community development, Lewis said, the soil is the community.

Putting the same seed back into the same unchanged soil can produce the same results. Restoration requires attention not only to people and organizations, but also to the conditions surrounding them.

It was a message that connected directly to Memorial’s history.

For over 30 years, the organization has sought to address those conditions through housing, childcare, youth employment, health services and other investments in the people and neighborhoods around it.

It is also where Memorial’s history intersects with the statewide work Lewis now leads through Congregations with Community: helping congregations move beyond simply being in a community toward becoming active partners with the people who live there.

Honoring Servant Leaders

That commitment to community was also reflected in several people honored during the luncheon.

• The Rev. Dr. Larry Rascoe Sr. received the Warner Payne Sr. Character and Strength Award.
• Sharnetta Sharp and Phil Baker received the Connie Robinson Blair Civic Engagement Award.
• Wendy Chinn received the Adrian M. Brooks Sr. Innovation Award.

In accepting the civic engagement award, Sharp reflected on Memorial’s role in helping launch the Juneteenth celebration she and Baker established. During the event’s early years, Brooks and Cabell allowed organizers to use Memorial property.

Baker said their work ultimately comes back to the people they serve.

“It’s a blessing to be here, and it’s about the people, about the community,” Baker said. “We just want it to be a better place for our children.”

Chinn also described her work as an act of faith and recalled coming to Memorial without knowing exactly what the path ahead would hold.

“I told parents, ‘If you allow me to sow a seed in your child, you will get them back better at the end of the summer,’” Chinn said.

Guests included members of Memorial’s tenant council, philanthropic and corporate partners, community supporters and Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry.

Lewis closed his message by returning to what sustains a community beyond programs, buildings or institutions.

“Love without condition, without bias. Just love,” he said. “Love because you were loved. Love because love changes everything.”