FRANKFORT, Ky. — One of Frankfort’s resource and homeless shelters for adults is two months away from shutting down its shelter services.
Tasha Gray has been with the Simon house in Frankfort for several years and is currently the administrative community service manager. She says it’s a place where she’s grown close with the people who enter.
At the Simon house, unhoused men and women over 18 can come to the shelter for meals and other food needs.
“If they have to leave for the night when we have to close, then we send them out with a sack lunch and we try to give protein, you know, something sweet,” Gray said.
From 5 p.m. to 11 a.m., 16 separate beds become available to those needing a place to stay.
But almost 10 months after reopening, the shelter program is closing permanently because of funding and staffing concerns, unless a solution is worked out.
“A lot of what’s going to happen is still in the board’s hands. We are trying. I am out there every day looking for donations to keep us fed, you know, clothing, things like that,” Gray explained.
The Simon house is one of few homeless assistance centers in Frankfort and the only emergency co-ed housing facility for adults.
They are supported by federal grants and people willing to donate food, clean clothing and more.
Rick Woods is the former board chair and someone the Simon house once supported. He says their work in the community has been impactful and it’s hard to see a place that helped him face challenges.
“You know, we enjoy seeing people smile like today. I mean, you know, these people are happy. They’re getting stuff that they normally are not able to get, you know, on their own. So it’s all here for them and that’s what makes it special,” Woods said.