LEXINGTON, Ky. — In Mayor Linda Gorton's latest budget proposal, she has prioritzed funding for ONE Lexington, an initiative that is working in the communityt to reduce gun violence among youth and young adults between the ages of 13 and 29.

What You Need To Know

  •  ONE Lexington will receive funding from the city to hire more outreach workers and give grants to organizations

  •  The initiative supports grassroot organizations that work on the ground to address gun violence

  •  It operates through the P.I.E.R. Model, which is prevention, intervention, enforcement, and re-entry

  • There has been a 75% decrease in gun-related homicides among youth since 2021

“It is a community-based effort and a holistic approach to gun violence,” said Devine Carama, the director of ONE Lexington. “Public safety and police do what they do. We try to focus on more community-based efforts and supporting those who are also focused on community-based efforts.”

The initiative partners with grassroot organizations that are actively working on the ground. It follows the P.I.E.R. Model, which stands for prevention, intervention, enforcement and re-entry.

“It is a model that we have been looking at for years, even before ONE Lexington, but ONE Lexington adopted that model,” said Larry Johnson, the community response coordinator for the program.

“We’re looking at the root causes that lead to gun violence so that is the prevention work,” said Carama. “We are also trying to serve those who have been impacted by gun violence which is intervention and we’re trying to help those who are coming home from incarceration.”

The work ONE Lexington has been doing along with other organizations and individuals appears to be making a difference.

“From 2021 through right now, the first quarter of 2023, we have seen a 75% decrease in youth gun homicides,” said Gorton.

“I believe that’s because of the work of these nonprofits, UK Trauma Center, the school system, but those individuals on the street, you know, those that are in those spaces where violence is happening.”

At this point last year, Lexington had four gun-related homicides where the victims were between the ages of 13 and 29. This year there have been two. There have also been 13 fewer people in that age range from last year to this year who have been shot.

During Gorton’s budget briefing two weeks ago, she announced that money from her proposal would go toward ONE Lexington.

“With the added funding, we’ll use that to help give more to our community organizations and be more supportive of our community and the organizations that would need that funding to keep their organizations running,” said Kenneth Payne, a community outreach advocate with ONE Lexington.

The money will also go toward increasing the number of outreach workers. Their plan is to bring on five more people, including a Hispanic outreach worker to build trust with the Latinx community. These workers connect with families impacted by gun violence and attempt to mediate conflict between young people.

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