Our History

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Memphis Tenants Union is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering our community through building tenant unions. We work with tenants who want to organize collectively to form a tenants union.  We support low-income, mostly BIPOC tenants who are willing to work together, fight their landlord, and WIN! Our first tenants union is the Memphis Towers Tenants Union and we are now working in several other buildings to support them to form their unions.

In 2020, several Memphian tenants came together with the goal to support low-resource, BIPOC, Memphis tenants to organize, to improve housing conditions, and to strengthen the local movement for economic power. Learning from peers and mentors, they identified residents living in a large apartment complex owned by national slumlord Millennia, Inc.

In 2021, Memphis Tenants Union officially launched with a press conference in front of City Hall. After officially launching, MTU started to receive plenty messages from tenants requesting help and MTU created an emergency hotline. 

In 2022, the Memphis Towers Tenants Union was created in 2022 at Memphis Towers, a Section-8 funded apartment complex in the Medical District.  Through organizing their neighbors and tireless advocacy at the local and federal level, MTTU was able to kick out their slumlord (Millennia) earlier this year! MTTU has also won critical improvements to the living conditions at the property, such as a working hot water boiler, 24-hour security, and more!

Coming soon...

Your donation will help us continue our mission and support our community. Every dollar counts and will make a difference in the lives of those we serve. Click here to donate to Memphis Tenants Union!