In 2022, YouthBuild Louisville started serving adults (18 – over) and young adults (11-17) in the Smoketown community through the Cure Violence model. The project was designed to respond immediately to victims and their families involved in gun violence in the neighborhood. What came from this work was a drastic drop in gun violence in the neighborhood, but more astounding was the connection of Smoketown teens, preteens and their parents to the staff and programs YBL offered. In the summer of 2024 more than 250 youth and their parents applied for the summer program to serve our neighborhood’s teens. As a result, YBL started the rehabilitation and addition of the existing building at 538 East Breckinridge Street. The Smoketown Community Center will open in spring 2025. Additionally, YBL was funded to serve the same young people throughout the school day at Meyzeek Middle School. This work is supported by an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Safe Schools and Communities grant to increase attendance, reduce suspensions and increase the academic achievement of the most challenged neighborhood youth attending Meyzeek Middle School.
As another response to the development requests of the Smoketown community, YBL built and opened a laundromat (2022) connected to the community center. YBL and its corporate partner, GE Appliances, helped in a public/private partnership to transform a vacant property at East Breckenridge and Hancock streets into a local, minority-owned, small business and social support center. The building was once home to three businesses: a barber shop, car detailer and liquor store.
The Smoketown Community Center (SCC), is an important neighborhood amenity that will serve youth and young adults in Smoketown and the surrounding area.
The Smoketown Community Center will offer:
- a safe space for neighbors to meet and host celebrations inside and outside
- a safe zone for youth to complete their homework, study and create using
- technology, and participate in leadership development activities
- out-of-school time programming for opportunity youth and young adults
- an incubator for small, primarily minority-owned businesses.
The Smoketown Community Center will open its initial phase in 2025. It is the only community center in the Smoketown neighborhood since 2013. All, with an emphasis on 11-17 year olds.