LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Over 200 Louisville community activists gathered at the Muhammad Ali Center Tuesday for the first day of a summit to discuss solutions to gun violence.
The effort is part of National Youth Violence Prevention Week, which also included a meeting of the new Metro Council Youth Cabinet on Monday night.
Mayor Craig Greenberg also attended and gave a speech to kick off the summit. He called gun violence in the city a crisis and said addressing it was a top priority for his administration.
The summit was put on by the Louisville Alliance for Sustainable Gun Violence Reduction. To lead the discussion, the alliance put out a survey several months ago.
A total of 309 groups were identified as part of the "ecosystem" to reduce gun violence, and 149 filled out the survey.
Jud Hendrix, executive director of Interfaith Paths to Peace, presented the survey data to the 210 people in the crowd.
Hendrix said the biggest issue they found was that only 2.5% of the surveyed organizations said they had worked with others in the ecosystem.
"That should be embarrassing," Matthew Ness with One Church said. "We've got to figure out if that's internally -- we don't know each other -- or we're being kept apart...we've got to find out why that is."
Hendrix said there is a lack of trust partially based on a lack of funding and competition for resources.
"Macro-level organizations have the resources, the key is, how do we get those resources to the folks that are doing the grassroots level organizing?" Hendrix said.
The macro organizations would be things like the city's Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods. And the micro-level organizations would be One Church, Moms of Murdered Sons and Daughters (MOMS) or Gloves not Gunz.
"Our neighborhoods will never be able to flourish because we can't keep the money in our own neighborhoods," Mark Pence, founder of Gloves not Gunz, said. The group's goal is to help encourage kids to start sports and boxing instead of being on the streets.
Greenberg said he hopes to hear ideas about how to improve communication and accountability from the city.
"Whether it's working with Metro Government, working with LMPD or just working with one another, we can all make a difference," the mayor said. "Nothing is too small to make a difference, nothing is too big to be considered."
Over the course of the summit, the groups will find out how not to duplicate their services and where there might be additional funding resources.
Hendrix believed if this communication can be improved, there will be more results, as the survey also showed the organizations are very reliable when given a task.
"The key is: how do we see the whole, in order to love our part?" Hendrix said. "That's what we're trying to say, 'There's all these people doing the work, and we want to support you in doing your particular work.'"
After the two-day summit is over, the alliance will release a report and send it to the organizations. This will be part of a three-year plan to address violence.
Greenberg also addressed other moves from his administration to address gun violence, mentioning his plan to place warning labels on seized guns and the expansion of the 911 deflection program.
Greenberg noted he wants to find more resources for programs like Group Violence Intervention, and hopes to expand park, library and city programming hours.
"We each have a small piece of the puzzle that when we put it all together lets us create a safer, stronger and healthier city," he said.
Other leaders like Representative Keturah Herron, D-District 42, attended, noting funding is one main way the government can aid in combating violence.
“You know there’s very little the city can do as it relates to policy and a lot of that lies on us at the state level," Herron said. “We have to know and understand and acknowledge that, then we have to do the work to make sure there are jobs and adequate housing and educational opportunities.”
The Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods said more than 200 people attended Tuesday's session.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.