LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Homelessness is not a new issue for Louisville.
However, a Louisville deputy mayor said the city has made a series of investments around outreach, adding that Metro Government is “incredibly dedicated” to inspiring connections and committed to health and safety every day.
Kevin Stice, 46, has endured living on the city’s streets for the last six-plus years.
“It’s been hell,” Stice said. “When I first hit the streets, it was depression. I’ve been missing my family and realizing the grief and the loss of what I have caused from my drinking and my drugging.”
He has stayed in homeless camps before and has needed to move often.
“I swear to you, I’ve lost three or four different sites, camps, in the last six years,” Stice said. “I mean, that’s full of everything: sleeping bags, tents, food, clothing, everything. Like, this is what I have right now.”
“I can’t imagine that,” said Nicole George, Louisville Metro Government deputy mayor. “I deeply regret that has been the experience of our neighbor.”
“I can attest to what the practice has been over the last year and a half, the expectation. And what I can assure you is our homeless services division. Their primary goal is to treat people with compassion and dignity and respect.”
George said a team of outreach specialists go out every weekday, meeting people and working to understand their needs. They offer to connect people to resources and also do some on-site case management.
A city spokesperson said the primary focus is limiting growth of camps, adding two homeless people were killed in separate incidents at different encampments in the last four months.
Kevin Trager, spokesman for Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Ky., said the city is focused on establishing a new emergency shelter for homeless young people 18-24 years old. According to Trager, the mayor included $35,000 in his budget proposal to start the project, with most of that funding going toward hotel vouchers for homeless youth. Trager also explained the proposed budget puts forward nearly $32 million to meet the ambitious goal of creating or preserving 15,000 units of affordable housing units across the city by 2027.
Trager said, "We have many great community partners working with the administration to address homelessness. Between opening the new Community Care Campus, to providing emergency housing for homeless youth, to increased funding and staffing for the Homeless Services Division, and investing $32 million in new, affordable, and quality housing options across the city, Mayor Greenberg is committed to working with our partners to address homelessness through a long-term, multi-layered strategy.”
When it comes to relocating or moving encampments, George said they seek to lessen risk as it relates to where people camp.
“That means if you have an encampment that’s off of an interstate ramp, that’s on a sidewalk, that’s on a bus stop, that’s near a school, those encampments are being measured for risk,” George said. “They are prioritized in the way of decision-making for intensity of service provision, in addition to decisions for when a camp would be relocated.”
“As part of that, that work happens potentially every day of the year. It is not attached to spring; it is not attached to any event, as evident by the notifications that we send to the community, notifying people in a very transparent way about when those relocations occur.”
The Coalition for the Homeless said more than 12,000 people sought homeless services last year in Louisville. On any night, there are about 600 people who are unsheltered.
The group said it has put together a $50 million ask of Metro Government for a comprehensive, evidence-based idea on how to help the city’s homeless population.
“We’ve asked the city to fund a right-to-shelter, which would include $6 million for the Community Care campus for a new family shelter option, as well as $1.2 million, which is an increase of $600,000 for hotel stays that would bring people into hotels as an option rather than those families having to sleep out,” said Catherine McGeeney, Coalition for the Homeless communications director.
“In addition to that, we’ve asked for $1.9 million to expand our current shelter options to become a 24/7 non-congregate option for people. We’re asking the Mayor and Metro Council and all Louisvillians to support this. We are requesting a right-to-shelter for families, which would increase access to resources for Louisville families when they’re sleeping in their cars.”
Those who want to report a homeless camp concern should call Metro 311 in Louisville. Those knowing someone who is homeless can call the Coalition for the Homeless’ single point of entry at 502-637-2337 to get shelter in the Louisville area. Anyone else in Kentucky should call the Kentucky Housing Corporation at 502-564-7630.