LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In the ACE Memorial Peace Garden, there are stones bearing the names of people lost to gun violence.

What You Need To Know

  • The Crescent Hill Community Council is sponsoring a competition for new ideas to curb gun violence in Jefferson County

  • The deadline to enter is Oct. 4 and Sept. 30 is the last day to enter online

  • A $7,000 prize will be awarded to the winner 

  • A panel of 15 judges will review the submissions 

Rose Smith said she created the space in Park Hill after her 24-year-old son, Cory “Ace” Crowe Sr., was murdered just steps away.  

She doesn’t know how many names are in the garden now, but she is constantly adding more, she said.  

“We have an epidemic,” said Smith, who founded The ACE Project. “We have a problem. We have a lot on this ground, but there’s so many names that’s not even on this ground.”

This month, Smith is encouraging people of all ages to share their ideas to curb gun violence in Jefferson County as part of a competition.

She’ll serve as one of 15 judges on the panel.

Longtime Crescent Hill resident Jane Emke asked the Crescent Hill Community Council to sponsor the competition, she said.

“Enough is enough,” said Emke. “We’ve lost too many young people … It’s got to stop, and that’s why we started this competition for the best new idea for curbing gun violence in Jefferson County. We don’t expect to cure gun violence itself, but we hope after we do a pilot project in this neighborhood and in Crescent Hill, using the new idea that we get, then maybe gun violence will be lessened.”

A $7,000 prize will be awarded to the winner of the competition and close to 100 people had submitted ideas by last week, Emke said.

The deadline to apply is Oct. 4, but Sept. 30 is the last day to enter online.

Official forms are available at Louisville public libraries and can also be submitted via mail to CHCC Curbing Gun Violence Competition, Peterson-Dumesnil House, 301 S. Peterson Ave. Louisville, KY 40206. 

The competition is bringing neighbors together, from Park Hill to Crescent Hill, to find solutions.

“That’s what I love more than anything,” said Smith. “I think that really excites me. I think it’s going to take the entire community: north, south, east and west. It’s all of our problem, so I feel like it’s going to be a solution that we all need to take part in, so I love that.”

Next month will mark nine years since Smith lost her son.

Through all she’s lost, she said, she keeps looking for the good.

“I do believe that there’s hope, and so if we come together as a community and just find the answers, there is an answer to everything,” she said.

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