LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Coalition for the Homeless this week presented a new, “bold” proposal to end homelessness.
After months of research and planning, Louisville‘s Coalition for the Homeless released its proposal to reduce homelessness in Jefferson County. It’s a four-prong, multi-year approach, which includes increasing shelter space, adding affordable housing, creating respite care and investing millions toward eviction prevention.
On Tuesday, coalition leadership presented the plan before a full house of service providers, Metro council members and other stakeholders. Up first, Coalition members recommended adding the number of shelter beds available on any night in Louisville by the hundreds.
“We believe that Louisville should pass a ‘right to shelter’ ordinance. We believe that we should flex up our shelter capacity to meet the needs that we have today,” George Eklund of the Coalition said. Eklund says more shelter space, including non-congregate and 24/7 space, is the first step toward permanent housing.
Also, the Coalition says a shortage of affordable housing coupled with rising rents and flat incomes is pushing families to homelessness every day.
“Louisville’s 2019 Housing Needs Assessment shows a shortage of 31,000 affordable units for our poorest citizens,” Coalition Executive Director Natalie Harris said.
That shortage translates to over 74,000 Louisvillians living in homes they cannot afford and 11,000 forced in shelters or on the street and many after an eviction, Harris explained.
“Eviction is the leading cause of homelessness and if we fund these solutions to reduce evictions, we will prevent new families from ever becoming homeless in the first place,” De’Asia Beard said.
The Coalition recommends Louisville dedicate $16 million annually toward eviction prevention as federal Covid relief dollars earmarked for such programs have been spent. Catherine McGeeney is the Director of Communications at Coalition for the Homeless and said, “this vision for funding services is on top is on top of existing services.”
The Coalition recommends spending nearly $190 million over 8 years to build 30,000 affordable housing units.
A fourth goal being proposed is to create medical respite programs for homeless residents to recover from illness or a medical emergency in a hospital or clinic setting. The Coalition’s executive director is also recommending the city hire a Director of Affordable Housing.