Over the past year, CLOUT has continued to focus our efforts on solving key aspects of four critical community problems that affect the basic quality-of-life for tens of thousands of our citizens. Those problems are: failing public schools, the lack of affordable housing throughout our community, barriers to senior citizens seeking to age in place, and disparities and injustice in the criminal justice system. In addition to these issue campaigns, CLOUT launched a new initiative in 2021 related to addressing increases in crime and violence, especially gun violence. 

At our hybrid Zoom and in-person Nehemiah Action Assembly on March 28, 2022, we had over 1,100 CLOUT constituents in attendance, we secured key commitments from officials on these community problems, and worked to begin building a working relationship with the next Louisville Mayor.

To see media coverage of the Assembly, click here for the lead story broadcast by WLKY-TV and here for the story by the Courier Journal.

Over the past year, CLOUT conducted a citywide Listening Process, and then a 4-month research process, to develop solutions to problems related to crime and violence in Louisville. We concluded that, in order for our community to address this problem, there needs to be a coordinating body to make sure that there is a coordinated effort by all groups working to address this problem. 

At our Assembly in March, Dr. Tad Hughes, Chair of the University of Louisville’s School of Criminal Justice, committed to co-convene this body and to help lead a gap assessment to identify areas of need in addressing this problem. Dr. Monique Williams, Director of the Louisville Metro Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods has also committed to be a co-convener and leader in the effort. 

 Taking advantage of the fact that Louisville Metro will be electing a new mayor in November 2022, we invited all mayoral candidates to attend the Assembly. In attendance were five of the top candidates, who unanimously committed, if elected, to support CLOUT’s mission, to meet with CLOUT shortly after taking office, and to work with CLOUT on an ongoing basis.

In 2019, CLOUT’s research revealed that older adults in Louisville are often forced to leave their homes and enter an institution due to a lack of knowledge or access to affordable services and programs for maintaining their homes and meeting their basic needs. We determined that our city needs a better system of informing and connecting our growing population of older adults to the services and social opportunities that they need in order to thrive and remain independent. The launch of the Flourish Village was delayed by COVID. 

At the Nehemiah Action Assembly, over 130 CLOUT leaders filled out advocacy cards calling for the University of Louisville’s Trager Institute to make finding funding for the Flourish Village a priority to speed up the launch of this much needed best practice.