"The basic fundamental premise that I have  about improving West Louisville is that I don't believe that there are outside forces and outside resources that are going to come and save us, inside West Louisville. I think the solutions to improve West Louisville are ultimately going to come from the people who live in West Louisville. And so, I think it's counterproductive for us to continue to put so much energy into pursuing people, resources, agencies, businesses, leaders, from outside of this community, with hopes of them bringing those resources and ideas back to this community, don't improve it. I think that the solutions that we seek are right here, in our own backyard. I think that rolling up our sleeves and being committed to those solutions and being committed to being apart of those solutions has to be where we start. I think that we start by embracing that fundamental premise, then we get ourselves so much further down the road. I watch so many of us seek outside resources to fix things that I just don't believe will be addressed by people, from outside of this community. I just don't think it'll happen. That's the 30,000 ft level. The more granular level is this notion of us getting out of our homes. We are guilty of it, in West Louisville, just like many other people around this community, in large. We go into our households and we close the doors and watch television, and engage with our own families. We go out, we don't look people in the eye, we don't shake hands, we don't talk. We don't do any of those things. We don't function as neighbors, anymore. I sincerely believe that the solutions that we seek are going to come from us breaking those silos that we live in and doing more to support one another.  So, when I think about all of these murders in our communities and these young boys killing other young boys, these are people, by in large, that don't have fathers in their lives and don't have parents that are highly engaged. I think that solutions to helping them improve their lives are going to come from people who complain when they sit down on their couches and watch the news and say that somebody has to do something. Well, they are the somebodies that have to do something! If we don't find ways to inspire people to get off the couches, to come outside of their homes, to adopt some young person, then these problems will persist." - Devone, Parkland

"Have full understanding. We need to get together and become one. Unity makes strength, all the time, man. I came out of Brooklyn, coming from the islands, straight out to Brooklyn in 1974. In our building, we were the only blacks, everyone else was Chinese. We got along just fine. I lived on Lincoln Rd. and everybody on the block played together. The girls would jump double dutch and the boys would study Kung-Fu. The whole block studied Kung-Fu together. We'd go to Prospect Park, which was two blocks away. We did everything together. We'd have a block party together. If you were from another neighborhood and you was trying to chuck, it'll be trouble. That's unity, no matter what color the people or race. Here in the west, we need to unite and respect one another. I don't know what he was saying, when the governor said that we need to walk around the neighborhood and pray. Man, we've been praying. Back then, we were more together and everyone knew each other. We need that in the west. Again, we have to have respect for one another. The young people also need to have respect for the elders. 

You know what else? You don't see any vegetable or fruit stands. And guess what? All the chemicals in the food is killing us. They took the Pic Pac out and put in a dollar store. If you look at every corner, you see a dollar store. If it's not a dollar store, it's a pawn shop. If it's not a pawn shop, you see al liquor store. Young people are getting raised on a bag of chips and cookies. I say unite and change that.

Love one another and show respect. I like the West End, man. I don't care what they say. I like being around my people." - Joseph, Russell

"The enemy doesn't attack people who are weak. Throughout all of my challenges, I still stay positive. Even when I don't know what to do, I still stay positive and give those positive affirmations. I reach out when I feel like I'm falling short or when I'm feeling weak, which is something that I never used to do. No one ever knew what I was going through because I never reached out. But since I've been back, I know me better and I know my purpose, I can reach out. I've been faced with a lot. I lost everything. I've been dealing with family issues that really bother me. Coming back to deal with this shit, I was faced with not knowing what to do. I'm always the person that has a plan when I'm faced with something. This time around, I had to sit still and know that I'll be okay and let God move. I lost faith, I was doubting my God, you know, but he surrounded me with people who show me that he got me. It's been a long summer, but God continued to place people in my life who feed me, you get what I'm saying? You know, we helped each other. I sat back and let him. Be still and know that I am God. When you do that, you see the blessing. That's how you know where it's coming from." - CeCe, California

"We need to get together and get our own. All we need is one bank, one school, and one hospital for the whole West End, and we're good. We would never need anymore money from the state. We need to get together. Instead of trying to buy gas stations and boutiques, we need to get a meat store. We wouldn't have to worry about going to Kroger and buying GMO food. Know what you're selling. I'm very health conscious, I'm in the Nation of Islam, brother. I ain't the guy I used to be. I wasn't always bean pies, papers, and incense. I used to be dope, weed or heroin. " Bro. Leonard X, California

"Take the pain of your past and make it an asset. " - Sharrod, Russell

"You gotta crawl before you walk. That's what I'm trying to do, crawl before I walk." - PT, California

"I was married for 8 years. That's back when I was in Evansville, IN. That's where I'm originally from. I came here to go to JDAC to get cleaned out. I just decided to stay. I ain't gonna lie, I like Louisville. I had a little trouble. I've been jumped by some guys. That's why I carry that cane. I don't need that cane, I carry it for protection. They put eight stitches on top of my head, blacked my eye, didn't break nose, but bloodied it. Bruised my ribs. I just came from Labor Express, but I didn't make the cut. I just got those stitches out of my head about a week ago. They said it has to be completely healed before they let me work. I'm lucky they didn't break my skull." - Chris, Portland

"I'ma give you 9th Street goin' down & 9th Street goin' up. I ain't gon give you side to side. First of all, be you. Second of all, real is real. If you ain't real, you can't be nothing else. You fake, you fake. You shady, you shady and you won't be around me. OG Juan from the Da Ville. It's been goin for a minute. Love ya'll! Be you, follow suite. Just like spades, follow suite. It's gonna pan out. I'ma give you what's real. That's why you love me, now. Keep lovin' me, cause I love ya'll back." OG Juan, Russell

"Gain knowledge of self. Like, know what you really want, know how you react, know yourself. Complete understanding of self is complete understanding of others. I can't really understand and relate to you, if I don't understand me. If I know me, I know that certain situations that come my way won't be an issue. The less problems that I have with myself, the less problems I'll have with anyone or anything else. Knowledge of self makes that outside world so much easier to deal with, on a peaceful level. A lot of the times, confrontation comes from whatever a person has going on inside." - Candra, Park DuValle

"If there was anything that I could do for the West End, I would rebuild the parks and the Boys & Girls Clubs back up. Man, when they took the Portland Boys  & Girls Club and they started taking a couple more and shutting them down and stuff, like the community center over here, that killed the hood. It just kills it out. Instead of the kids going to the summer classes, they out here running around, doing whatever. It's crazy." - DeBrion & Cevon, Russell

Beautiful Queens, Russell

"One of the happiest moments of my life would be an Amped moment. I'm from Birmingham, Alabama and I have gone through a lot of death within the last couple years. Three generations of my family died in a very short period of time. So, me and my babies moved and are here by ourselves. Amped made me know what community was. Even in the midst of my struggles and trials and tribulations, it was my birthday and they came in and surprised me with birthday cake and gifts. The whole entire Amped was singing happy birthday. That was my best Amped moment. It made me realize that I have a family here, within the community. I know that they care about me." - Ms. Love, Chickasaw

King's One-Hour Dry Cleaners, Russell

"February 11th, 2012, my son came into the world and gave me another level of happiness and reason as to what my outcome in life is going to be in his eyes. My daddy always told me to go to school, keep a job, or go to the military, so I can figure out what I needed to do with my life and stay in my lane. He raised me himself, right there at 4214 Greenwood, until I graduated high school. He raised me to be a man." - Mr. Winston, Park DuValle

"In May of 2016, I went to the Healing Place and got sober. I've been sober since then. Recovery is strong, especially down here in the west end. In Louisville, period, there's like four hundred fifty something meetings a week. It's like the recovery capital of the country. It's a big deal, man. It's a lot going on, down here. Heroin is such an epidemic, you know what I mean, so why wouldn't it be? Homelessness drove me to recovery. My family told me that I couldn't come around because they didn't want me around their kids and around their stuff. I got tired of sleeping on the street, sleeping outside. I wanted to do something different and get my life back in order. I'm 28 years old. Being homeless for the past 3 years, I had a life before that. I had a house. I had a 5 bedroom house in Bullitt County. I had a wife, I had the kids, I had everything, man. I was doing it. I gave it all away for the dope. I gave it away, it wasn't taken away. AA and the Healing Place taught me how to see my part in this shit, man. Our Father's House is like an extension. It's teaching me a lot about myself." - Robert, Russell

"Stay outta trouble. Stay out the way. As far as I know, this city is the trenches." - Adrian, Russell

"We've been here for 47 years. We love the area. We're right next to the golf course and near the parks. We really enjoy the area in which we're in. We met at the movies. That's when he let me know that he knew who I was. I didn't know him We were in class together, in college. He was in my math class, clownin! I was afraid of him and I made sure that I sat in the front. He was in back in the back with his friends and they gave the professor the blues. I was poor and dignified. I was a poor girl but I carried myself like a lady." - Walter & Pernilla Smith, Shawnee

"Love the next person because you're never guaranteed to live the next day, you might as well love everybody you know. Simple as that. I love everyone I encounter, everybody I work with, everybody I know. That's all you got to give to people other than money. You got to love them." - Eflen, Portland

Cecil & Greenwood, Chickasaw

"Follow your dreams and don't ever give up. It's always gonna be rough but stick with it. There's alway hope." - Antonio, Park DuValle