LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Changes to policy about who can come into Louisville's sole low-barrier homeless shelter are expected in the next month.
Last week, Louisville Metro Police Department leadership addressed safety concerns at the shelter that opened at Wayside Christian Mission last December. The comments were made as part of a Louisville Metro Council budget hearing for LMPD.
Low-barrier homeless shelter at Wayside Christian Mission
"It is not a safe environment for my officers, it's not safe for their staff, and frankly, it's not safe for the people that are there," said LMPD Major Andy McClinton.
LMPD said in the six months the shelter has been open, it has made over 1,000 calls for service in the area -- the most in the city. But Wayside leaders say that is only part of the story.
"That's not just our shelter, that's everywhere around here," said Wayside Christian Mission COO Nina Moseley. "The folks have only been out from under the bridge for about a month."
Low-barrier homeless shelter at Wayside Christian Mission
In April, city officials cleared a homeless camp that developed under the interstate near the intersection of Jackson and Jefferson Streets across the street from Wayside. Since then, police say calls for service have gone down. Moseley also says an LMPD officer comes on every medical run to the shelter.
Police also recommended that Wayside hire two off-duty police officers to monitor the low-barrier shelter 24/7. But Moseley does not believe that's feasible for the already cash-strapped mission.
"Two of them around-the-clock is $876,000 on an annual basis," she said in an interview Tuesday. "There's no money for that in our budget."
Low-barrier homeless shelter at Wayside Christian Mission
The shelter was opened on Christmas Eve and aimed at giving people a place to stay that would otherwise be unable to sleep at a traditional homeless shelter. Four groups in particular were targeted: Couples who didn't want to be separated, people under the influence of alcohol or drugs, people with pets and people who had previously been kicked out of traditional shelters for being violent.
Moseley says she hopes to revisit those four categories with city officials as the $100,000 grant from the city used to open the shelter expires late this month.
"We think the low-barrier shelter would be much better if we could modify the entrance requirements -- in other words, not allow all the criminals in," Moseley said.
In addition, Moseley says they are working to create a single entry and exit point from the shelter. It also is paving and fencing in an outside area near the shelter at the advice of police.
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