Ephie Johnson continues legacy of work
It’s not unusual for someone to take over a family business.
But what Ephie Johnson took over from her parents wasn’t a family business; it was a family ministry, a family commitment, a family calling.
Johnson is president and chief executive officer of the Neighborhood Christian Centers, an agency that has grown from a small emergency safety net for folks in poverty to a nonprofit that serves 53,000 people annually from eight locations (including Jackson, Tennessee, and Decatur, Alabama) on a budget of about $2.5 million from donations, foundations and grants. In-kind giving accounts for an additional $2 million to $3 million.
“I could not see the work that we’ve done all these years not continuing,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s mother, JoeAnn Ballard, became the first executive director of NCC in 1978. Johnson took over leadership of the agency in 2008 after her father’s death. Her mother has moved away from the agency’s daily operations.
Johnson and her three siblings grew up inside NCC with parents who, over the years, cared for 75 foster children. Johnson said she was never really jealous of the other children in her parents’ life, but did ask her mother once if they could be normal.
“But then my mom reminded me that ‘this is your normal,’ ” she said. “And then we moved on.”
NCC continues to be a family operation, with two of her three younger siblings working there, serving as chief operating officer and family enrichment director.
The agency, at 785 Jackson Ave., serves families in three areas: compassionate services, which are basic needs like food, clothing, utility or shelter referrals; youth services for children from elementary to high school, with afterschool programs and summer initiatives; and family enrichment services provide families in need with adult enrichment, job training and referral programs.
The primary mission, according to the NCC website, “is to guide those in need toward stability and sustainability through compassionate, Christ-centered ministries and empowerment programs.”
Families that come to NCC for help have their immediate needs addressed before being connected with resources provided through an extensive network of community partner agencies.
“We’re a surrogate family member to a family that has come into a situation or been born into generational poverty where they don’t have a compass or a reference to what is typical,” Johnson said.
A leader who demands excellence
The Women’s Foundation of Greater Memphis has had a long-standing relationship with NCC, which is a grantee partner, said Ruby Bright, the foundation’s executive director.
Johnson, Bright said, is an intriguing, commanding and amazing woman who makes her presence known whenever she’s in a room.
She could have chosen any path she wanted, Bright said.
“And Ephie has chosen the path that she has been raised in. That’s unique,” she said. “I’m sure she accepted the calling and embraced it and has helped to build an exceptional institution. That’s servant leadership, and I would say she has earned that badge and beyond.”
Johnson, 50, graduated from the University of Memphis and was a teacher for two years. She returned to the NCC fold.
“I was an administrator at 26 years old. I opened up a Neighborhood Christian Center in Decatur, Alabama, when I was 26 years old,” said Johnson, who would become president at 40. The work, she said, feeds her. “Because I know we’re doing good work. I know things are happening, and I know we’re changing lives,” she said.
Even the staff members, people she said are paid to serve but “aren’t paid to care,” leave NCC for other opportunities better than when they arrived.
For Kelbert Fagan, NCC’s former chief programs officer, working for Johnson and the agency was his first exposure to urban neighborhoods and the challenges that are inherent for people living in poverty.
At NCC, Fagan learned what people in desperate need go through and how the programs and strategies add value to their lives.
Fagan left after two years and now works part time with the Family Safety Center while persuing a number of entrepreneurial endeavors.
Johnson, he said, taught him that the people NCC serves deserve quality and excellence, whether it’s while distributing food or taking young people on a college tour.
“Because the everyday lives of the clients we were helping weren’t necessarily that way,” Fagan said. “Ephie was adamant, very deliberate when it came to making sure we did our best as far as providing high-quality programs and assuring that we gave our clients the best service. Mainly because that’s not what their everyday life was.”
The work is not easy
The work is draining, Johnson said. But singing replenishes her. “I think I was on the radio when I was three,” said Johnson, who also sang on television as a child.
She is a worship team member at Hope Church and grew up singing in church.
“It has been a part of keeping me balanced. It’s a part of who I am. If I can’t sing, I probably wouldn’t be able to live. It’s a part of who I am. It’s a part of the way I encourage people,” Johnson said.
She also performs whenever and as often as she’s asked.
NCC isn’t the only responsibility on Johnson’s plate.
Johnson is married, with a son at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and another at Memphis University School.
She owns Pop-A-Roos Gourmet Popcorn Shoppe at 726 N. Parkway. It’s a business she started to show her sons how something is built from the ground up. Contracts are being negotiated for a second location, she said.
What comes next
NCC grew more in the last 10 years than it did in the past 30, Johnson said.
It’s now time to enter a new phase for the next 10 years, she said.
“What we will be doing is focusing more on isolating particular families that are really ready to get out and being a little more intentional about managing those relationships,” she said.
They’re still figuring out the details and have identified 126 families, Johnson said.
It’s providing a holistic approach in the form of case management, with daily access to people, she said.
“It’s outside of how people think. So, how do we make it touchable? How do we make it translatable?” Johnson said.
After a lifetime at NCC, Johnson is proud of the work her parents have done and that she’s able to keep that work alive.
“I’m proud that I’ve lived long enough and been here long enough to see multiple generations get out of poverty. I’m proud of seeing people get degrees and get jobs and that I could see it happen. I’m proud that I can see their lives change,” Johnson said. “I think if you were to say why do I keep doing it, I think it’s because God has graced us so we can see the change.”