The Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association, Inc. formed in July, 1998, to improve the quality of life and the physical and economic conditions of the MLK Neighborhood. Our neighborhood boundaries are Short Street on the south, Sixth Street on the north, Elm Tree Lane on the east, and North Limestone on the west.

Membership in the Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association costs $10 per household per year. All who live, work, or provide services in the neighborhood are welcome.

We committed ourselves from the beginning to the constructive work of adding assets to our roughly 16 square blocks of just northeast of Lexington's Main Street. We are a downtown neighborhood that city planners expected residents to flee during the white flight of the 1970s. They expected this so strongly that they rezoned much of our neighborhood for industrial uses, zoning that still stands today. Surprisingly, though, people did not leave, even during the time of greatest neglect of downtowns in Lexington and throughout the country. Our physical assets declined, though, a situation we are working on many fronts to reverse today.

In 1998, we believed our neighbors, who had been virtually forgotten by the city for 30 years, would respond if they saw positive work getting underway. We committed to building a "can-do," problem-solving ethic because we needed it ourselves, and because we believed it would be the best basis for good working relationships with several key departments with Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. After more than four years, we know our first instincts were right!

In 2003 our neighbors include long-term and new residents; black, white, and brown people; owners and renters; wealthy, middle-class, working poor, and very poor people; gay and straight people; singles and families; and followers of a wide variety of faith traditions. In short, we are a diverse, vibrant mix typical of downtowns in the USA.

Our association meets monthly, and hosts a purely social event each summer and each winter holiday season. The other months of the year our monthly meetings feature a variety of resource people and experts who have helped us become more effective advocates for our neighborhood and who help us understand how to sustain our neighborhood's assets, including our housing stock. Each monthly meeting begins with a 30 minute update and conversation with our Neighborhood Support Officer, a special member of the Department of Police who works directly with us to improve safety and help build community. The board of the MLKNA also meets monthly, to plan programs and help manage projects.

Our noteworthy successes to date:

· The MLKNA launched a Neighborhood Safety Watch program with high participation; crime is down and sense of safety is up.

· We raised $80,000 from public and private sources to fund the first stage of the Duncan Park Master Plan. (More than $300,000 in improvements remain to be made.) In order to complete the first stage, we built close working relationships with Lexington Fayette Urban County Council members, then Mayor Pam Miller, leaders within the Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Police, and the Lexington Young Professionals Association.

· We recruited and supported 300 volunteers for a two-day playground build in Duncan Park in May, 2001.

· The MLKNA participated with private citizens in buying a crack house at 454 Silver Maple Way. We are working with neighbors, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and The Urban League to begin converting this community problem into a fine home for two families.

· In partnership with Kiddy Biddy Project, Inc., we ran a 3-on-3 basketball tournament on newly re-surfaced basketball courts in Duncan Park in 2001, and 2002. In 2002, we launched a Barbeque Cook-off and Duncan Park Homecoming on the final day of the tournament.

· The MLKNA successfully discouraged inappropriate use of a significant historic property, the Brand-Barrow House. We have begun a close and mutually supportive relationship with its new owners, the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington.

Our long term commitments:

· Reclaim Duncan Park from neglect and make it our neighborhood's lively, much-used heart. See page 5 for more about the importance of this historic park.

· Fill our empty houses with committed, live-in owners. Improve the condition and appeal of our housing stock, streets, and sidewalks. Attract new medium-density condo and apartment construction to the parts of the neighborhood where it is appropriate, as a way to add residents to downtown so we can support a grocery and other appropriate retail.

· Produce and support a full annual calendar of opportunities for neighbors to work, play, connect, and become friends.

· Develop a sound, reliable approach to fund raising that supports our planned improvements while also improving our neighborhood's image and appeal to people who do not live here.

· Acquire the H-1 Historic Overlay designation for our neighborhood, to protect investments people make in their old houses, and stop additional destruction of historic structures.

· Complete "right zoning" process both to protect homes and to encourage neighborhood scale retail.

· Work steadily with police to continue improving safety and neighbors' sense of security.

Our short term commitments:

· Fund and run the third Duncan Park 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament for the third year in July, 2003. Find ways to increase the size and appeal of the Duncan Park Homecoming and Barbeque Cook-off that take place on championship day.

· Plant 17 donated trees in Duncan Park and on designated streets.

· Finish the renovations to the house at 454 Silver Maple Way; rent the spaces. Launch a revolving fund that makes it possible to begin improvements to additional houses.

· Continue efforts to engage neighborhood businesses, organizations, and faith groups in MLKNA efforts.

· Take part in the Great America Cleanup in April.

· Hold successful yard sale in May.

How we need to grow:

· We need allies in the private and public sector who understand the win-win-win benefits of strong, active, positive, growth-oriented neighborhood associations.

· In order to carry out our plans, we need to develop fund raising strategies that do double duty: make money for the MLKNA and build positive buzz about our vibrant downtown neighborhood. This need has led us to consider a specially tailored Urban Challenge for fall, 2004. See page 4 for more detail.

· In the short run, we need to raise the funds to run our 3-on-3 basketball tournament and other events associated with it in 2003 and 2004. Costs run around $6,000 annually for the tournament; we need to raise and invest more if we are to build the event and also make some money from it.

· We need expertise that will help us complete the renovation at 454 Silver Maple Way with a positive fund balance, so we can take on additional houses. We also need expertise in how to set up the revolving fund we have in mind.

· As an ambitious organization of busy (tired) volunteers, we always need ideas and support for organizational growth. We have no office or paid staff, of course, and have chosen to put limited resources into services rather than organizational development. We need membership drives, more assertive promotional campaigns with our organizational neighbors, and more effective and frequent communication through signage, posters, a lively website, and occasional door-to-door news delivery.