CURRENT POSITION Regional Manager for LINC/2-1-1, Memphis Public Libraries, TN DEGREE MS, Adult Education, North Carolina A&T State University, 1993 FAST FACT Jordan-Fluker’s lived experience includes having parents who fought for civil rights and a husband who was once unhoused, which has driven her work. Photo by Michael A. Foley

Pathways from Poverty

As a native Memphian, Kim Jordan-Fluker has unwavering affection for her hometown. Over the years, she’s held jobs in higher education and government. But her greatest fulfillment is in her latest role as Regional Manager for LINC/2-1-1, Memphis Public Libraries’ (MPL) social service department. Serving more than 55,000 community members a year, Jordan-Fluker’s team is the driving force in connecting the city’s most vulnerable residents with resources they often don’t know exist, let alone how to access. Her overarching goal is to put those residents on a pathway out of poverty. 

To support her efforts, Jordan-Fluker has been intentional in assembling a diverse frontline staff—82 percent are people of color—and making MPL branches community anchors. To that end, she hired two social workers and five social work advocates. “Libraries have evolved into crucial hubs for serving individuals and families who are in need,” she says. Her team addresses the seemingly endless barriers facing local youth, adults, and seniors, facilitating everything from emergency shelter, family interventions, and immigration assistance to SNAP benefits, education opportunities, and health insurance navigation. While they’re typically stationed at high-need branch libraries, they also visit unhoused communities to make resource referrals, eliminating transportation barriers. In 2023, Jordan-Fluker’s team of seven served 310 individuals and/or families with support and assistance in multiple areas ranging from social service benefits to housing to education and workforce development.

Jordan-Fluker makes it a point to offer skill development opportunities to every member of her team to ensure they have the training and resources to deliver excellent service. But perhaps the most important skill she provides them is an understanding of her approach to treating everyone with dignity. “It’s about meeting people where they are. Assist with empathy and compassion,” she tells them. “You have to be able to view a person’s situation without ego and without airs.” 

On top of the long and sometimes emotionally draining hours she spends in her position as regional manager for LINC/2-1-1, Jordan-Fluker holds spots on the Board of Directors for the United Housing Council and the Methodist North Hospitals Community Board of Directors in Memphis. Those roles have led Jordan-Fluker to cultivate partnerships that, coupled with her comprehensive data analysis, have resulted in identifying and filling gaps in local services.

“I greet each individual as a friend,” Jordan-Fluker shares. “I firmly believe that at our core, we all have the same fundamental desires for love, peace, life, and grace."