The 2022 Lexington Neighborhood Summit was held August 6, 2022. Attended by Picadome Neighborhood Association Board Members, Lisa Chiffolo & Lynne Flynn, Mayor Linda Gordon spoke about the “foundation good of neighborhoods” and three local programs working to unite Lexington:
*ONE Lexington
*Racial Justice & Equality Commission (RJEC)
*Dept of Housing Advocacy & Community Development

ONE Lexington
Managed by Director Devine Carama, ONE Lexington mobilizes city government and community resources to reduce gun violence with youth and young adults ages 13 – 29.

ONE Lexington uses a PIER approach to violence prevention:
Prevention – Preventing conditions that lead to crime through mentoring
Intervention – Identifying and supporting youth engaged in high risk behavior & working with the University of Kentucky Trauma Center to stop violence
Enforcement – Keeping the community safe through building positive relationships and implementing community oriented policing and enforcement strategies. This includes working with local judges to identify alternative sentencing
Re-entry – Assisting incarcerated youth and young adults with successful transition to the community upon release.

You can find more information on ONE Lexington here:https://www.lexingtonky.gov/one-lexington

Racial Justice & Equality Commission (RJEC)

Presented by Tiffany Brown, the goal is to assemble diverse community members to listen, discuss, and create empowering solutions that dismantle systemic racism in Fayette County. Formed in June 2020, the commission created an 80 page initial report with 54 recommendations for Lexington. Most recently the RJEC has lead two initiatives:
*Clean Slate Lexington. Hosted on April 22, 2022, Lexington worked with local attorneys to help with expungements. 200 residents qualified. Individuals who have gotten assistance historically see a 20% increase in pay within two years.
*Mobile Market. Retrofitting a LexTran bus, the mobile market will provide nutritional produce to those in need & accept SNAP & EBT benefits. LEX has budgeted $260,000 for the project and is set to launch in June 2023.

You can find more information on RJEC here: https://www.lexingtonky.gov/boards/commission-racial-justice-and-equality

Dept of Housing Advocacy & Community Development

Managed by Commissioner Charlie Lanter, the mission of the Affordable Housing Fund is to leverage public investment to preserve, produce, and provide safe, quality, affordable housing.
*Loans & grants are available for those households at or below 80% of area median income ($59,600 for a family of four): https://www.lexingtonky.gov/departments/office-affordable-housing
*3,000 new units have been funding since 2014
*600 new units are currently under construction
*Under the CARES Act, 1 out of 14 renters in LEX received assistance
*Lexington residents utilize 95% of housing subsidy vouchers (compared to 80% national average)

You can find more information on Housing Advocacy here: https://www.lexingtonky.gov/departments/housing-advocacy-community-development