City of Lexington announces new ‘One Lexington gun violence prevention grant program’

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – One Lexington’s overall goal is to leverage community resources in order to help reduce gun violence in people ages 13 to 29.

On Tuesday, Mayor Linda Gorton and One Lexington’s Devine Carama announced a new grant program for gun violence prevention.

“This is huge. We’ve been fighting for this for over a year” said Devine Carama with One Lexington.

The city allocated $150,000 in the city budget for the program.

“Governments job isn’t to reinvent the wheel, but to remove barriers and support grassroots people and organizations that are already involved doing this work of violence prevention” said Mayor Linda Gorton.

the grant program is for nonprofit organizations, which can apply for up to $7,000.
Carama says it’s time to get the finances and resources in the hands of those with lived experiences.

“This just isn’t us throwing money anywhere, this is going to people and organizations that can help us keep our community safe” added Carama.

In addition to the $150,000, Cities United has added another $30,000 grant to go towards support services for victims of gun violence.
That plan also touches on re entry for young people who have been in jail.

“How do we take young people who have been involved in the system some of whom who have been detained and are coming back into societies normal environment back into their schools, how do we work with them to deal with the trauma? How do we work with them to deal with stabilization” said Larry Johnson, Community Response Coordinator for One Lexington.

Mayor Gorton also touched on the fact that mental health is a big focus for the city right now when it comes to reducing violence.

She says the city is planning to do a community review to see where the gaps are so they know where to start.
In addition to that, there’s a plan to address domestic violence is also expected to be announced soon.