The partnership between Lexington and Cities United goes back years, but this week marked an in-person visit as part of the organization's ongoing 20-city tour.
"One of our best conversations we had in your city and most cities we go to is with young folks, especially young folks who are survivors of gun violence, who have been impacted, who have witnessed it, who have lost loved ones to gun violence... listening to how they see this work and how they see y'all's city," Cities United Executive Director Anthony Smith said. "They see lots of opportunity in this city, but don't see that they're connected to that opportunity."
The group is also delivering $40,000 in grants to Lexington organizations as the city implements its updated ONE Lexington Strategic Plan. ONE Lexington Director Devine Carama said his group took a bottom-up approach in crafting the priorities laid out in the plan.
"This isn't our voice. This is the community's voice," Carama said. "So when a community says we need more accessible community centers, that's what the community is saying, not just us. When a community is saying... we need more survivor organizations leading the fight, how can we, a city government, invest in those organizations?"
The new strategic plan is available on the city's website, lexingtonky.gov.