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November 2022 Newsletter
AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT
OSHN offers multiple avenues for civic engagement to help move this important work forward. We aim to highlight these partners, referred to as Violence Prevention Ambassadors.
This month our “Ambassador Spotlight” features an actual world ambassador. Fargani Aliyev, Cultural Affairs Specialist with the US Embassy, led a group of Azerbaijan delegates to Louisville where they met with OSHN and local violence prevention and youth-service providers. The World Affairs Council of Kentucky assisted the delegation in contacting relevant and trusted organizations in the US.
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NEWS RELATED TO VIOLENCE REDUCTION
Peace Garden Opens in Parkhill
 The Ace Project, YouthBuild, and OSHN partnered with the Parkhill Anti-Violence Coalition to bring the Memorial Peace Garden to life at 2336 Standard Avenue. The garden, located behind The Ace Project, provides a space to honor those killed by local violence and provides a place for families to share and heal. If you are a family or friend to someone lost to gun violence, you are invited to write their name on a rock in the garden. The Ace Project is also the location where Cory "Ace" Crowe was murdered in 2014. The goal of The Ace Project is to transform tragic spaces into healing spaces through counseling, life skills, and educational supports.
Learn More About The Ace Project Here
LMPD chief says violent crime is down and homicide arrests are up, but there's still work to be done
Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields says the city's violent crime is down 16% this year, but there is still work to be done. Shields has been on the job for just under two years. During her first year as chief, the city saw a record 188 homicides. According to the latest LMPD data, this year there have been 128 homicides with two months left to go in the year. "We're not happy with where we're at, but we are definitely doing a lot of things correctly and we are making an impact," Shields said. Shields sat down for a one-on-one interview with WLKY Tuesday evening to discuss what's been done to address violent crime and what's still left to do. Read more
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Norton Healthcare Assists OSHN
We appreciate that Norton Healthcare is running the city's official mental health assistance hotline on LEDs in area hospitals. It’s this kind of gesture and partnership that will lead to a difference for those suffering the trauma caused by violence. If you need to talk about what is wrong, please call at 502-901-0100. The assistance is walk in or via phones. And it is there for all Louisville residents.
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The YES! Youth Cabinet is
We are excited that many civic-minded area youths want to contribute and be a voice in local government. After a two-month open application period, we are interviewing youth from each of Louisville’s 26 districts. These pioneering youths will advise their home district council member on issues important to youth in their area. We can’t wait to start hearing what they want, need and will do!
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The First YES! Connection Event Was About Sharing
Even if we proudly say so ourselves, the inaugural “YES! Connections” event is the beginning of what will make a difference. Over 50 local organizations met for the first time to network and connect on how to work together to be a force in reducing violence among Louisville’s youth population. We will have several more of these events. Just watch our social media, newsletter and OSHN website for dates. YES! means Youth Engagement Services, a division of OSHN that encourages the youth voice, connectedness and violence prevention strategies among Louisville's youth population.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Free Stop the Bleed Training for Newburg Residents
The Newburg Implementation Team purchased 40 "Stop the Bleed" kits to display strategically in community spaces. The kits were placed in bright red, first-aid bags designed to be visible in an emergency.
Participants will be taught how to recognize a bleeding emergency and how to perform life-saving actions such as applying direct pressure, packing a wound with gauze, using a tourniquet, and keeping both themselves and a trauma victim safe in an emergency The event will take place on Friday November 18, from 6:30-7:30pm Email Bay-leigh.lockhart@louisvilleky.gov to RSVP.
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Networking Night
Do you want to know how to get more involved in violence prevention work? OSHN would like to invite you to be a part of the next Networking Night. This is an opportunity for citizens to get to know the change-agents doing the work in the Louisville area. Our November 29th presenters include the Ace Project, Whitney Strong, Women in Circle, and Robert Jamison Ministries.
Join us on Tuesday November 29, 2022 from 6:00p-7:30p. This will be an in-person event held at the West Louisville YMCA, 1720 West Broadway Louisville, KY 40203. Food and refreshments will be served! Contact jacob.hazel@louisvilleky.gov for questions.
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Ambassador Training
The Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods (OSHN) would like to invite you to be a part of the next One Love Louisville Ambassador Training Saturday December 10, 2022. This is an opportunity for citizens to help us create a safer Louisville through safe and effective interventions taught by experts in Stop the Bleed, Conflict Resolution, Mental Health 101, Domestic Violence Awareness, The Public Health Approach to Violence, and Community Organizing.
Join us on Saturday December 10, 2022 at the Louisville Free Public Library, Main Branch. This will be an in-person event, and food and refreshments will be served! Contact jacob.hazel@louisvilleky.gov for questions and register below.
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We were blow away at how many Louisville businesses, civic organizations and nonprofits registered for our first YES! Connection event last month. It just shows people care about Louisville youth and want to be a part of ensuring their voices are heard.
If you are a youth-focused organization, start connecting with others who share the same interest.
Our next YES! Connection event is December 13th from 11am-1pm at the Portland Community Center, 640 N 27th Street, Louisville, KY 40212.
Please register by email at cameron.galloway@louisvilleky.gov or call 502-574-6949.
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COMMUNITY BOARD
Take a look at some of the latest news, resources, and events in the community. Keep your community informed by sharing these with family, friends, and neighbors
Norton Healthcare provides update on west Louisville hospital, names chief administrative officer
As construction equipment, piles of rocks, and "Opening 2024" signs all show promise of a soon-to-be hospital in Louisville's West End, Norton Healthcare said its west Louisville hospital is being built on the foundation of what community members want to see in their backyard. Norton Healthcare released the findings of its survey, which more than 4,500 people shared ideas and feedback, and hosted a community event to reveal renderings and open interviews. Survey results revealed women health services, mental health care, and diabetes care are the top three specialties West End residents would like to see incorporated. Read more
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Light Up Louisville
Light Up Louisville, powered by LG&E will be held the Friday, November 25, 2022, at 3 pm. Children can enjoy holiday crafts such as cookie decorating and write letters to Santa and veterans, and get a free photo with Santa.
The Lots of Lights Parade starts at 7 p.m. at Seventh and Jefferson, led by Frosty the Snowman as Grand Marshal. The parade will move down Jefferson Street to Fourth Street, where it will turn and pass through Fourth Street Live! Anyone interested in participating in the parade can sign up at LightUpLouisville.org.
Around 8:30 p.m., Santa Claus will arrive to help Mayor Fischer officially “Light Up Louisville” by turning on tens of thousands of lights, including the city Christmas tree. A fireworks show will follow.
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Turkey Giveaway in Portland
What are you thankful for? This year we are thankful for the Delta Foundation's Annual Turkey Giveaway in partnership with the A-One All-Stars and the Louisville Boys & Girls Foundation.
Some 200 turkeys with all of the trimmings will be given to families for Thanksgiving dinner.
Join them Sunday, November 20, 2022 from 2:00 pm- 5:00 pm at the Creation Center located at 2500 Portland Ave Louisville, KY 40212.
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Hoops & Homework
Delta Foundation is now offering Hoops & Homework to youth throughout Louisville Metro. The goal is developing educated leaders through athletics while pairing participants with a tutor.
Every Monday-Thursday from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm youth ages 8-16 can receive homework assistance followed by basketball skills instruction. This is a six week program. Please RSVP at deltainc502@gmail.com
If you are interested in volunteering as a tutor, please contact the above email.
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Would You Like to SAVE A LIFE?
Save A Life? is an innovative way of reducing gun violence in communities that bear the brunt of gun violence. Save A Life? offers the following evidence-based prevention trainings free to community partners: Firearm safety skills such as safe storage and gun handling techniques; Suicide prevention with Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM), and STOP THE BLEED®.
Whitney/Strong hosts several trainings a year. To find out about upcoming events, contact Danea Cloyd at Danea@whitstrong.org
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Nylaia Carter is a Local Hero
We were thrilled to help honor Nylaia Carter, a typically smart Louisville teen who did an extraordinary thing. When she saw a gunshot victim bleeding on a sidewalk, she rushed and used her school training from "Stop the Bleed" to help save the life of the violence victim. That training is part of the our Ambassador Institute curriculum. She is a true hero because she cared. Mayor Fischer recognized that fact by declaring Oct. 15, 2022, The Nylaia Carter Day!
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OSHN's Jenkins Wins Write-In
The Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods is full of talented people with a passion for the Louisville community. So it didn’t surprise us when OSHN grants coordinator Henrietta Jenkins choose to run for and was elected to Justice of the Peace, District 3. Unopposed, she won the 4-year term with 124 votes. “I just stand outside where they were voting, gave them a paper with my name on it and asked them to vote for me,” said Jenkins. Her newly-elected job means she has the civil authority to perform weddings. The JOA position is older than the state; being established while Kentucky was still part of Virginia. The qualifications? Be at least 24 years of age, a two-year state citizen, and live for one year preceding their election in their county and district.
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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor Fischer celebrates opening of The Well, a city-funded incubator to support Black and minority-owned businesses
Mayor Greg Fischer joined SKS Accounting & Consulting Firm Inc. owner Kena Samuels Stith earlier this month to cut the ribbon on The Well, a city-funded incubator and coworking space created to provide support for Black and minority entrepreneurs in the city.
“We know that like cities across the nation, the number of Black-owned businesses in Louisville is not proportionate to our population, and that is because of a lack of access to opportunity – not talent,” the Mayor said. “By funding the creation of The Well and providing over $14 million for other initiatives aimed at supporting Black businesses and entrepreneurs, Louisville Metro Government is increasing access to opportunities that we know can create generational wealth for Black Louisvillians and help close the racial wealth gap.”
The city chose SKS Accounting & Consulting Firm, a Black-owned, woman-owned comprehensive accounting and consulting services firm, to develop the incubator and coworking space in 2021, following a competitive request for proposals process.
The Well is located at 1702 Dixie Highway in the Algonquin neighborhood. In total, The Well has received $200,000 in city funding to sustain the incubator in the first and second years of operation. “I am excited to celebrate the opening of this great new asset in west Louisville for Black and minority-owned businesses. Great work, Kena!” the Mayor said.
Continue Reading Here
Councilwoman Dorsey announces proposed ARP funding to address redlining in Louisville
The Federal Housing Administration established in 1934 refused to insure mortgages in and near African-American neighborhoods. This practice became known as "redlining." Areas near or where African-Americans consisted as the primary residents were colored ‘red’ to indicate to appraisers that these neighborhoods were too risky to insure mortgages. African-Americans were left out of the new suburban communities — and pushed instead into urban housing projects. The FHA was subsidizing builders who were mass-producing entire subdivisions for whites — with the requirement that none of the homes be sold to African-Americans.
In 2021, The Department of Justice launched a new department specifically aimed at Combatting Redlining today. The new Initiative represents the department’s most aggressive and coordinated enforcement effort to address redlining, which is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The official press release from the Department of Justice denotes that “redlining is not a problem from a bygone era but a practice that remains pervasive in the lending industry today.”
This proposal allocates $7.5 million in ARP funds and another $5.5 million from the mid-year adjustment for a total of $13 million to combat the impacts of redlining, through intentional home ownership opportunities for those impacted in addition to stabilizing the communities most impacted by targeting homeownership to be directed towards undervalued, abandoned, and vacant properties.
Continue Reading Here.
Prison-to-Work Pipeline to Boost Workforce Participation by Helping Inmates Find Jobs
The administration is partnering with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to launch the Prison-to-Work Pipeline at all 13 state prisons and 19 local jails that house state inmates. Businesses located throughout Kentucky’s 120 counties will virtually interview inmates with the goal of the inmate being offered a start date before returning to society. Inmates will receive resume writing assistance and job interview preparation prior to their interviews.
Continue Reading Here
WE WOULD LOVE TO TABLE YOUR EVENT
OSHN’s mission is to reduce the risk of violence in all of Louisville’s communities. If you have an event or festival that we can table and share what the city is doing to holistically reduce violence and how it affects you and our community - We Want to Come! Please just click HERE to fill out our tabling request form or go to the website at Office for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods | LouisvilleKY.gov We’ll look forwarding to meeting you.
STAY CONNECTED!
There is great work happening here in the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, and most importantly, in our community. It is our goal to keep you engaged and co-leading our important work. Our vision for Louisville is a city of safe neighborhoods where everyone is supported, free of violence, and prepared for lifelong success. We can only achieve this together, so stay connected with our monthly newsletters, social media, and visit our website for more information and additional calls to action.
Past OSHN Newsletters can be viewed HERE.
We would love your feedback. If you have questions or concerns regarding our newsletter, or have a related event that you would like to communicate with our networks, contact Joseph Newland.
Take care of each other.
#BeThe1
OSHN Team
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