Norfleet Forum focuses on Mid-South health improvement

Norfleet Forum focuses on Mid-South health improvement

How an act of generosity from 1979 is still changing lives today

On April 10, more than 140 physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, community health workers, and outreach leaders gathered at the National Civil Rights Museum for the 2026 Frank M. Norfleet Forum for the Advancement of Health—a fitting venue for a conversation about violence prevention, public safety, and healing.

The keynote was delivered by Adrian Raine, PhD, professor of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, who presented The Anatomy of Violence: Implications for Prevention, Prediction, and Punishment. He was joined by a distinguished lineup of speakers—including experts in urban education, social work, community health, surgery, and pediatrics—who led interactive sessions, panel discussions, and Q&As designed to help clinicians and community professionals develop strategies for treating patients impacted by adverse experiences.

The Norfleet Forum has been doing this kind of work since 1980. Over the decades, it has tackled kidney disease in the African American community, childhood obesity, alcohol use disorders, sickle cell disease, and now violence prevention. Each year, a different department at UT Health Sciences takes the helm, ensuring the forum reflects the most pressing health challenges facing Memphis and beyond.

None of it would be possible without a single act of generosity.

In 1979, Dunbar Abston, Sr. made a gift to the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis in honor of Memphis businessman Frank M. Norfleet. That gift established an endowed fund—and endowed funds are designed to last forever. The principal is preserved and invested, and the returns fund the work year after year, in perpetuity.

That one gift, made nearly 50 years ago, has now powered decades of community health education. And it will keep going.

The power of endowed giving

You may want to consider an endowment to support causes you care about in perpetuity, by establishing a fund now or as part of your legacy.