BUILD: Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-Action

B.U.I.L.D.

Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action 

What is BUILD? 

Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action (BUILD) is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3 community organization composed of 26 congregations in Fayette County, Kentucky. BUILD’s purpose is to powerfully address community problems in the greater Lexington area by creating a self-sustaining, interfaith, interracial, proactive organization. 

The goals of BUILD are: 
•   To develop a responsible organization to address local issues of concern to member congregations/groups, through a process of education, training, research and action. 
•   To strengthen the individual congregations/groups by training existing leaders in organizing skills, and identifying and training potential new leaders 
•   To build and deepen relationships among diverse segments of our community by bringing together groups 
from various cultural, economic, and religious backgrounds around common interests. 
•   To enable religious congregations and neighborhood groups to act on our shared values of human worth, dignity, and justice. 

How does BUILD decide what issues to work on? 

BUILD develops its issues through a listening process. Teams are formed in our congregations to meet individually with other members of the congregation to meet and discuss their concerns for the community. As a result, hundreds of problems surface and are brought to an assembly in the fall. At this assembly, leaders vote on problems they consider to be the most urgent. 

We then conduct four months of research on these top-voted problems and take appropriate action to solve them. Members of our congregations do research about the problems by meeting with experts, and looking into solutions that have worked well in other places to solve the problems affecting our community. 

How does BUILD take action on those problems?
 
Members of BUILD’s congregations meet with public officials to present them with a reasonable, well researched proposal, and invite them to the Nehemiah Action Assembly. At that Assembly, hundreds of people from the member congregations of BUILD participate in a face-to-face meeting with decision-makers and public officials, who are asked to make specific commitments for action. The 2018 Nehemiah Action Assembly was attended by nearly 1,952 people. 

This is what we mean by “direct action”—taking action to hold officials accountable for fair policies and practices in our communities—rather than “direct service”, which is what many traditional nonprofits provide. Direct- service organizations deal with helping individuals. Direct-action organizations like BUILD try to get at the root causes of community problems. 

What has BUILD accomplished? 

Since 2003, BUILD has made a real difference on a number of community problems: 
Drugs and Crime BUILD won a Restorative Justice Program for youth who are using drugs and alcohol in our Family Court System. Three Family Court Judges, the Police Chief, the school system, the principal of our alternative school, and the Division of Youth Services were at our Nehemiah Action to commit to make this happen in Lexington. On average, 100 young people each year go through this alternative to jail. 

Healthcare for the Uninsured Due to the work of BUILD the Fayette County Health Department and other providers have supplied primary care to over 14,000 of Lexington’s over 40,000 uninsured adults. Each year, nearly $8 million of healthcare is provided to the uninsured in Lexington as a direct result of BUILD’s efforts. 

Code Enforcement Due to BUILD’s taking action in 2007, the Code Enforcement Division agreed to step up its inspections of trailer parks in Fayette county, some of which had rotting floor, leaking roofs, and open sewage. 

Drug Treatment In 2006, BUILD got Mayor Teresa Isaac to put $175,000 in the budget to create a women’s drug treatment program at the Fayette County Jail. We have followed up each year since then to ensure that the program remains funded and over 430 women have been treated to date, saving Lexington $4.5 million. 

Fayette County Public Schools In 2009, BUILD got Fayette county Schools to reduce drastically high suspension rates At Bryan Station, Crawford, Leestown, Tates Creek, and Winburn middle schools. Due to the work of BUILD, Fayette County Schools have changed the way they track suspensions looking to not just reduce the number total suspensions but also reducing the number of students who are suspended from class. 

Public Transportation BUILD got LexTran to start an “Employment Bus” to take citizens to work during the hours the regular bus is not in service – this service began in August 2006. 

Recidivism Reduction In 2012, BUILD gained a commitment from Mayor Gray to promote hiring policies that help reduce recidivism by getting people with a criminal history back to work. He agreed to bring together his staff and local employers to meet with a national expert to deepen their understanding of fair, effective hiring practices.
 
Removing Re-entry Barriers In 2013, BUILD got the circuit court clerk and head of the detention center to develop a plan to ensure inmates have state issued photo ID’s upon their release. 

Drugs In 2014, BUILD won top-notch drug court training for judges and attorneys so that everyone eligible has access to this program and the hope of recovery from their addiction.
 
Affordable Housing In 2014 BUILD got Mayor Gray and the city council to unanimously create an affordable housing fund with $2 million of annual revenue that is estimated to build and renovate 200 units of affordable housing each year in Lexington. To date, the fund has created 1,348 affordable homes and leveraged over $101 million. 

Mental Healthcare In 2016, BUILD moved Commissioner Ford and Councilwoman Lamb to work with Administrator Sell to conduct a needs assessment for Mental Health Services in Lexington. In 2017 BUILD ensured that grant funding was provided for Mental Health Court. In 2018, BUILD ensured that funding for Mental Health Court was placed in the Urban County Council Budget. 

BUILD has followed up over the years to make sure that all of these commitments are met.