Investing in Efforts to Prevent Youth Violence

May 29, 2026 Enewsletters Dear Friend, This week, I joined Mayor Paul Young in celebrating the $1,031,000 investment in the city’s Youth Violence Prevention program I secured through the annual appropriations process. We were joined by local partners, the PURE Academy and Heal 901, for a press conference and a tour of the Academy’s campus. I also condemned another vanity project dreamed up by Donald Trump – this time a $250 bill with his likeness on the front. This week, following the Memorial Day holiday, I was in the District meeting constituents, including 100-year-old Lurean Woodley. I also visited the Sweet Cheeks Diaper Ministry and offered two Bill Day cartoons and a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Bluesky , Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens. Investing in Efforts to Prevent Youth Violence Condemning Plans for a $250 Trump Dollar Bill Announcing $2.5 Million in NIH Grants to UTHSC and St. Jude Visting My 100-Year-Old Constituent Lurean Woodley Dropping By the Sweet Cheeks Diaper Ministry Holding a Team Cohen on Your Corner Sunday A Bill Day Cartoon Weekly Health Tip Quotes of the Week Investing in Efforts to Prevent Youth Violence This morning, I held a press conference with Mayor Paul Young to showcase the $1,031,000 community funding project investment I secured through the annual appropriations process for the city’s Youth Violence Prevention Program. The event was held at PURE Academy which is partnering with the city and Heal 901 to address youth violence, gang activity and mentoring to improve the quality of life. I was pleased to join PURE Academy founder and Executive Director Melvin Cole and Heal 901 founder and Executive Director K. Durell Cowan to highlight this important federal funding and to tour the facility, which includes a hydroponic garden. They have undertaken inspiring work that is paying big dividends in the safety of our community. Condemning Plans for a $250 Trump Dollar Bill The Washington Post broke the story Thursday morning that Trump political appointees are urging the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill with Donald Trump’s likeness on the front side. This is another clearly illegal and offensive vanity project to go along with his proposed gold coin, triumphal arch, billionaires’ ballroom and re-named Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Last week, I wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noting that Trump’s likeness on a gold coin or any U.S. currency would violate federal law, historic precedent and good taste. See the release on that letter here . Announcing $2.5 Million in NIH Grants to UTHSC and St. Jude On Wednesday, I announced $2,543,243 in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Both institutions received funding for research into hearing loss. See my release on the funding here . Visting My 100-Year-Old Constituent Lurean Woodley Congressman Cohen with Mrs. Woodley and her family On Thursday, I met with a loyal 9 th Congressional District constituent, Mrs. Lurean Woodley, who just turned 100 years old. We had a nice chat about the issues of the day and the history she has seen, which included an end to segregation, World War II (her late husband Sylvester was a veteran), and the births of her children and grandchildren. (She raised nine children – five boys and four girls. She has 20 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great-grandchildren.) Mrs. Woodley was born in Carroll County, Mississippi, the second oldest of 13 children, and was the building engineer at Idlewild Elementary School – my alma mater – until she retired in 1987 after more than 30 years of service. I was inspired by her life’s work and wish her well in her next century. Dropping By the Sweet Cheeks Diaper Ministry Congressman Cohen, founder Cori Smith and Program Director Rosie Coleman I visited the Sweet Cheeks Diaper Ministry on Thursday to see its operation and congratulate its supporters and volunteers for their work bringing dignity and comfort to struggling families. The often-overlooked need for diapers, baby formula, and other supplies places strains on young families that this hopeful ministry addresses. Holding a Team Cohen on Your Corner Sunday My District Office staff will be holding a Team Cohen on Your Corner event this Sunday at The New Olivet Worship Center, 10000 Woodland Hills Drive in Cordova (38018). It will begin at 12:45 p.m. A Bill Day Cartoon Weekly Health Tip The Shelby County Health Department will host a Community Care Fair on Saturday, May 30, at Middle Baptist Church. The department will provide free HIV testing, opiate overdose harm reduction kits (including naloxone), WIC nutrition assistance, back-to-school immunizations, and more. The church is at 801 Whitehaven Lane, Memphis 38116. The fair is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Quote of the Week “So, let us not be blind to our differences--but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” – President John F. Kennedy making the American University Commencement Address on June 10, 1963. JFK was born on this day in 1917. As always, I remain Sincerely, Steve Cohen Member of Congress