The city expects $30 million over 18 years. It's outlined several priorities for how it wants to spend that money, with a focus on treatment and harm reduction.
During March 17th's Social Services and Public Safety Committee, ONE Lexington updated Urban County Councilmembers on its work to reduce gun violence and plans for future growth.
Currently within the Mayor's Office, the youth gun violence prevention program is looking to establish its own place within local government for its long-term sustainability and success.
During the meeting, Councilmembers heard from ONE Lexington Director Devine Carama, who offered updates on the program's various initiatives. A few examples include the following:
Crisis response. ONE Lexington offers immediate support to individuals and families affected by gun violence. This includes financial support to help pay for temporary hotel stays, moving costs, property damage repair and more. ONE Lexington also has several crisis response advocates to help facilitate these services. In 2025, ONE Lexington facilitated 93 crisis response referrals, according to meeting presentation materials. That said, not all of those are for shootings themselves. Carama noted that people who've experienced gun violence can be re-traumatized by shots fired calls, and ONE Lexington assists with those cases as well.
Conflict mediation. ONE Lexington also works to prevent violence before it starts through its youth and young adult conflict mediation efforts. The program deploys "Peacekeepers" when potential youth conflict situations arise. It also awards violence prevention grants, and ONE Lexington officials hold weekly violence intervention meetings with local law enforcement and other community partners to address issues as they come up. ONE Lexington conducted 18 youth and young adult conflict mediations in 2025, according to its annual report.
Mentoring and youth engagement. ONE Lexington reported a total of 5,635 youth and young adult engagements in 2025. Those are across its community outreach and school assemblies, along with its It Takes a Village in-school, youth tutoring and summer youth programs. In 2023, ONE Lexington launched its Nurturing or Creating Alternative Pathways, or NOCAP, initiative. The youth program targets 12- to 17-year-olds with incarcerated parents or those directly affected by gun violence.
Grants and scholarships. ONE Lexington's Be the Change Scholarship is a scholarship that targets graduating high school seniors pursuing careers in fields that touch gun violence, such as social work, criminal justice and nursing, among others. During ONE Lexington's committee presentation on March 17th, Carama noted the scholarship's first winner is set to graduate college with a criminal justice degree this year with plans to pursue a Master's degree.
What's next for ONE Lexington?
Carama and Lexington Chief of Staff Tyler Scott outlined several ways ONE Lexington wants to grow in the future.
That includes possibly creating an office for the program separate from the Mayor's Office. The move could convey several benefits, according to ONE Lexington presentation materials, such as contributing to the program's long-term sustainability and increased credibility with funders.
Scott told Councilmembers ONE Lexington is considering creating a work group to examine what that transition might look like and check-in with stakeholders.
Speaking to CivicLex after the March 17th meeting, ONE Lexington Community Outreach Coordinator Larry Johnson said the program needs its own place within local government, as it's beginning to out-grow the Mayor's Office. The Mayor's budget alone is no longer sufficient to meet ONE Lexington's growing needs.
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Watch the meeting: Watch a recording of the March 17th Social Services and Public Safety Committee Meeting here.
Aaron covers the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council as a City Hall Reporter for CivicLex. His background is in Service Journalism, and he’s passionate about helping Lexington residents stay informed about happenings in local government.
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