By Sheree Stubblefield
Jennifer Jordan and Lisa Holt of Soul Ride
Cooper-Young Community Association wouldn’t be what it is without our neighbors. They volunteer. They own businesses. They contribute their ideas and their passion to the Cooper-Young community.
Each month, we will highlight a Member of the Month who gives back and embodies the spirit of our hip, historic community. This month we are highlighting Jennifer Jordan and Lisa Holt, the dynamic duo behind the community ride service Soul Ride.
If you would like to be involved in what makes CYCA great, email info@cooperyoung.org.
How long have you lived in CY?
Lisa: Two years. We moved from Central Gardens and purchased our home and Cooper Young.
What is your favorite thing about CY?
Lisa: The diversity of the people who live here and the history and architecture of the neighborhood.
Why do you like volunteering in CY?
Lisa: We volunteer to become more connected to our neighborhood so that we may understand the needs of our amazing community, and so we can be a part of offering a solution as opposed to simply residing here.
What is your favorite CY event of the year and why?
Jennifer: It would be a tossup between Cooper Young Festival and St. Patrick’s Day. Both are a lot of fun, and we love to see outsiders come into our world and experience the camaraderie, creativity, boost to the economy, and energy that it brings to CY.
Where can we find you on a Friday or Saturday night in CY?
Lisa: We take pride in being major consumers of our neighborhood, but right now you will find us operating Soul Ride. It is a complementary, tip-based neighborhood shuttle service that services Cooper Young, Overton Square, and the neighborhoods within that area.
Why Soul Ride?
Jennifer and Lisa: We started this service because as residents in CY we enjoy alternative modes of transportation and walking. We realized that although we love to walk to bars, restaurants, and events when it’s daylight, we have concerns about walking after dark. Instead of complaining, we wanted to offer a solution. We want everyone in our neighborhood to feel as safe as possible yet still have a fun experience, and the cart allows that. We will pick you up at home, take you to dinner, a play, barhopping, Tigers games, or even a friend’s house, and then take you back home again. We have also been known to pick up takeout or small store items and deliver them.
This has allowed us to meet so many fantastic people living in and visiting our neighborhood, which in turn has developed into more volunteer opportunities. We have many regular customers whom we have developed friendships with. We also realize that many restaurant employees living in our neighborhood do not have transportation. We offer free transportation to and from work for restaurant employees when we are out and about. All they have to do is call us or flag us down, and if we are available we will come and get them. It’s a lot of work but it is also a lot of fun and it’s important to us that we make an impact and keep our neighbors safe.
Tell us a good CY story.
Jennifer: Cooper-Young itself is a continuously evolving story, but a silly personal story is that we have a Sasquatch statue sitting in front of our house. It came from our neighbors from across the street who moved. What we did not know was that it weighs 200 pounds. So we have not been able to move it. It is subject to being dressed and decorated by others who live in our neighborhood. We never know what it might have on.
What do you want to see happen in CY in the future?
Jennifer: Cooper Young is the melting pot of the city of Memphis. We would like to continue to see it lead the city by example in diversity, acceptance, and progressiveness. We chose Cooper Young because it is a community that is environmentally aware, neighborly, and provides us with an opportunity to practice local consumer living. If it can be purchased or provided by someone or something in our neighborhood, we will choose that every time.
