Lisa Marie Presley cut the ribbon on the wrought-iron gates leading to Presley Place, a 12-unit, rent-free Memphis, Tenn., apartment building for homeless people trying to get back on their feet. The 33-year-old daughter of rock ‘n’ roll king Elvis Presley — who lived in Memphis public housing as a boy — donated $1.3 million to the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association to build the apartments.
“Giving back is a check for me,” she told The Commercial Appeal of Memphis. “The one thing that helps keep me sane and happy is to help others.”
Presley Place families will join 65 others who live in the Estival Communities, a collection of buildings where qualifying homeless families live up to one year rent-free while receiving career, financial and parenting counseling.
“It isn’t just putting a roof over their heads for a while,” she said. “These people actually want to change their lives.” The first tenants will include seven families facing evictions and four mothers who are victims of domestic abuse.
Elvis Presley Enterprises, which handles the licensing and marketing of everything with Elvis Presley’s name and image, will pay the operating costs for Presley Place for five years. Lisa Marie Presley is owner and chairman of the board.
Presley — who lives in Los Angeles with her two children and was at one time married to Michael Jackson — was accompanied at the ceremony by actor Nicolas Cage. The two have been appearing together publicly for several weeks.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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