LEXINGTON, Ky. – Nights below thirty-two degrees often leaves unhoused people exposed to dangerous winter conditions.
According to the City of Lexington’s annual report 896 people had temporary housing during the 2021 fiscal year. The Catholic Action Center in Lexington is partnering with other shelters and the Fayette County Sheriff’s office to get more people off the streets and inside during dangerously cold temperatures.
Thomas Caudill has devoted his time to the Catholic Action Center in Lexington for 15 years. Each night the temperature falls below 32 degrees is a night that he goes out and drives the ‘Compassionate Caravan’ and serves the people on Lexington’s streets with blankets, jackets, hand warmers and hot soup.
“Every night I gotta load up [the van] and then we head out, so they [donators] kinda go on the website and find out what we need. This is amazing. Jackets come in, so I just go through them. See, they’re brand new,” said Caudill.
Every item Caudill loads into the van is all donated by community members in Lexington.
CAC calls the van ‘Compassionate Caravan’ because there is a level of care and dignity that goes along with each time a volunteer goes into the community. Caudill comes across people on the street that are sometimes reluctant to go to shelter even in dangerously cold temperatures.
“Hopefully we can get them all in so you know they make it through the night. That’s the main thing and so nobody dies,” said Caudill.
CAC has served the Lexington community for 23 winters, the center partners with other Lexington shelters and the Fayette County Sheriff’s office to make sure people on Lexington’s streets survive the winter.
“This right here is the thickest. Let me get ya’ll hand warmers and soup. Alright here we go. I’m glad ya’ll working, hang in there,” said Caudill.
Ginny Ramsey, the co-founder and director of CAC, knows the work Caudill does is essential to those on the street. He is a direct line of contact for people that need the resources.
“We’re all in this together and we’re all family, and that’s the thing. He sees our brothers and our sisters out on the street as that,” said Ramsey.
Just in January, Ramsey confirms two people have died on Lexington streets from cold temperatures. Which is why Caudill takes every night seriously.
“You want to go to the Hope Center? You want a sleeping bag? I got some hand warmers. Listen, look at me. It’s going to be nine degrees,” said Caudill.
Caudill was once in these people’s shoes, from losing his home in a house fire years ago and to struggling with drug abuse. He turned over a new leaf in 1999 when he quit drugs and that’s why it’s so important to treat all people on Lexington’s streets with dignity and care.
“You know I tell everybody this is my Jesus medicine. This is the only way I can do something for somebody and not be seen most of the time. After you do it for ten, twelve, fifteen years, then they realize I’m in it for the long haul. I’m not in it for one week or for one winter,” said Caudill.
CAC’s work doesn’t just stop at the ‘Compassionate Caravan’, it’s a 24/7 operation and they’ve served 5.5 million meals, over 890,000 nights of shelter provided, over 2.5 million items of clothing given, over 225,000 showers taken, over 95,000 loads of laundry cleaned with the help of 200,000 volunteers and with no government funding and no paid staff.
“You know if this can happen in my life. It can happen to anybody. So it gives you a drive to realize they’re not always going to be there, there’s going to come a day when the Lord’s going to reach out and grab all them like it did me,” said Caudill.
The ‘Compassionate Caravan needs sleeping bags and hand warmers. To donate email caclex2000@gmail.com or call 859-514-7210. People that see someone who does not have access to shelter in Lexington should call the non-emergency number for the Fayette County Sheriff’s office at 859-252-1771.
The Catholic Action Center and Central Kentucky Housing & Homeless Initiative invite people to take the “What is Your Homelessness Awareness IQ?” quiz that tests people’s knowledge about the barriers unhoused people face.