Help Andrea Fenise Rebuild Her Big Mamas House

I bought the home of Eunice Alma Harris Malone, my paternal great grandmother, in Hyde Park, North Memphis, Tennessee. My great grandmother moved from Utica, Mississippi with her parents and siblings and rooted themselves in the historic Hyde Park and Douglass communities. Big Mama, who I so affectionately called her, was well loved and revered in Hyde Park. She was the community’s kindergarten teacher and an herbalist. She lived a well and long life well into her 90s. My grandfather sold her home in 1988 after her passing.

For some reason, I always thought about this home and kept reliving particular moments and things about the house. The house on Davis Street holds so many memories of the past and promises of the future. It is special!! After years of abandonment and blight, I bought it and have taken it into my heart to work this labor of love to restore all of the heart and soul my Big Mama put it into this home. I have vowed to carry on her legacy and create a legacy of my own through the foundation of this home.

Rebuilding and restoring a home in an urban disinvested neighborhood during COVID has presented many challenges. Redlining, scarcity of financial resources, and the cost of lumber tripling has deterred us from gaining the adequate amount of money to rebuild. The old home has been demolished due to severe termite damage, cracked foundation, and code issues that were going to present so many problems passing inspection. 

We made a very hard decision to demolish her old home. However, we haven't lost hope on building a beautiful home on the land in which she bought and worked with her hands. Our dream is to build a sustainable and energy-efficient home for our family to enjoy as well as invest in the neighborhood by buying a commercial property as a neighborhood community center. 

We would love your financial support in restoring Big Mama's house as well as rooting ourselves in the neighborhood through a nonprofit community center.

Your funds will cover labor and materials to rebuild Big Mamas House and also money to buy commercial property for a community center on the same block. This is for sure a labor of love. My husband and I  along with my family will be building every single detail of this home ourselves with our hands and heart. 

The story of Big Mama House