LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Finding a vacant or boarded up home in Louisville's West End isn't hard to do. On Elliott Ave., you’d have to be blindfolded to miss them.
Paul Stillwell knows the exact number. It’s 32.
“32 vacant homes on this street,” Stillwell said.
And Elliott Avenue is less than a mile long, so from any vantage point, it’s clear how big the problem is. Stillwell met us in one empty lot next to three abandoned homes which is next to more empty lots and homes.
“Yes, we just tore a home down here. This is an abandoned house, the one next door is an abandoned house,” he said. “Right now [Louisville Metro] have us ear-marked for 21 lots down here that Keeping it Real could eventually utilize, purchase and build homes on.”
Paul Stillwell, also known as Rev. Bo Stillwell, says his mission is to turn these overgrown lots and abandoned properties on Elliott Ave. into homes again. In fact, his non-profit, Keeping it Real, received a contract and grant from the city to research how to accomplish that.
“It’s a small patch of land that happens to have 32 homes on here that need to either be rehabbed or tore down so that we can put in here safe and affordable housing,” Stillwell said.
Stillwell’s involvement on Elliott Ave. has come under fire from the lawyers representing the mother of Breonna Taylor.
In an updated lawsuit against three LMPD officers, lawyers accuse police of going on a “crusade,” targeting and removing people from their homes to make way for a “high dollar” real estate development on Elliott Ave. However, a “hold out” was a property on Elliott rented by an ex-boyfriend of Breonna Taylor which prompted officers to raid her home on Louisville's southside which ultimately resulted in Taylor’s death. To be connected in such a way to the killing of Breonna Taylor is not sitting well with Stillwell.
“What our goal was to improve the neighborhood. Not to move people out. I have not orchestrated anything, like someone, like the beautifully Breonna Taylor would be killed as the result of a development. This girl was an awesome girl. It’s almost a shame that they are even associating her with this particular house because she had a friend here,” Stillwell said.
Stillwell says neighborhood residents support the work he’s doing, in fact, he says he’s only received positive feedback from neighbors regarding tearing down dilapidated buildings. Stillwell rejects the notion that he’s engaged in a development aiming to gentrify or redline the West End.
“Look at me. I am an African American male that’s running a non-profit organization that is Afro-centric in its approach,” he said.
Stillwell adds he’s never been contacted by any member of the legal team responsible for the claims in the Taylor lawsuit.
“They owe me a contact and they owe me an apology,” Stillwell concluded.