LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Recently, Louisville Metro cleared out a homeless encampment. Now efforts are underway to find a safe shelter for those affected.
Inside the Salvation Army’s main Louisville location, the people who work here have hearts of service.
“The mission of the Salvation Army is to meet human need without discrimination. Our hope is that we help everyone in need no matter what their circumstance, no matter what their situation,” Captain Jimmy Parrish, the Area Commander of the Louisville Salvation Army, explained to Spectrum News.
They have a shelter open 24/7 available for people who need somewhere to stay. Here, they also help veterans and families.
“Roughly, we have about 300 people that sleep in the shelter every night. It’s usually full. It’s full obviously because of the weather,” Parrish explained.
Louisville’s Department of Public Works told people living at the downtown Louisville encampment near the KFC Yum! Center to expect the space to be cleaned out on or after Thursday, March 23. Since the notice went up, Captain Parrish said they have seen more people come into the shelter.
“So what you see, when those kinds of interactions happened, we work with the coalition within the city and basically they are being told that all beds are full within the Salvation Army, within other organizations when they’re trying to make bed reservations for the night. We just don’t have any place for them. So, as you start to move camps and move individuals, then our facilities become more full and more individuals need a place to stay.” Parrish explained.
This week, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg (D) said several factors go into evaluating the encampments.
Mayor Greenberg said, “So, that’s where our attention is focused. On the camps that have the highest risk and post the most safety and health risks to those who are living in the encampments as well as those that may be impacted by them.”
Parrish added, “We all want to create a community that’s safe and loving and caring for individuals, but we also want to be smart in how we kind of legislate in helping individuals and getting them to the right places. I think that’s what the mayor wants to do. He wants to keep it as safe as he can, but still see the care and the need for individuals in this community to have a safe place to live.”
Spectrum News also checked in with Louisville’s Wayside Christian Mission. Their chief operating officer said it’s hard to tell whether they had an increase in nightly residents. The mission said it was full already and since there wasn’t a white flag — a designation when temperatures get dangerously cold — that night, they could not take in any extra.
Anyone needing help can call 211 from anywhere in Kentucky to be referred and connected to essential community services