LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The City of Lexington is looking to keep the momentum going on gun violence prevention. As the city sees a drop in violence, they're also encouraging non-profits to apply for thousands in grant money to help be part of the solution.
Lexington’s been seeing some promising numbers for the last couple of years. According to the Lexington Police Department’s website, there were 36 homicides involving guns in 2021. In 2023, it dropped to 22, a 39% drop. Over that same time, shootings overall went from 135 to 84, a 38% drop. The mayor said that was the first time in five years the number had dropped below 100.
Wednesday, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said she plans to allocate $100,000 in One Lexington Violence Prevention Grants, pending council approval. She, members of the city's public safety agencies, and One Lexington urged non-profits to apply for that money.
It's impossible to point to any one thing that's led to that drop in numbers. One Lexington's community outreach coordinator, Larry Johnson, said he believes counseling has made a big difference.
"There are some groups of our community who are not traditionally used to getting counseling and we're getting more and more people involved with getting counseling and addressing their needs, so that the anger, the hurt, the trauma is being addressed in a positive way," Johnson said.
Non-profits can apply for grants anywhere from $1,000 to $7,500. If a group doesn't already have its non-profit status, they can work with a fiscal agent. Crisis response coordinator Kenneth Payne said that's often a good starting point.
"Oftentimes it starts with people doing work where they're not getting paid. It's just a passion. They see a need in their community, they go start doing that, and then it begins to expand from there into an organization. I think that's where you see really great programs develop," Payne said.
Director Devine Carama says he's encouraged by the momentum they've built, but he wants to be sure the work doesn't stop there.
"It can't just be the numbers. That's a big part, but also, are we seeing graduation rates increase? Are we seeing homelessness decrease? Are we seeing unemployment decrease? Those are the things we're looking at. How do we create opportunity?" Carama said.
Organizations can apply for those grants until 5 p.m., Friday, April 5.
