LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A large homeless camp off Interstate 264 and Bardstown Road is now gone.

The camp used to line the grassy area right off the road with tents and shopping carts. As of Friday morning, it had all been cleared.

The city of Louisville said the Homeless Services Division worked with outreach groups to relocate 15 people who were living there. One person refused.

Stachelle Bussey, who runs the Hope Village, a safe outdoor camping space with resources for the homeless, said clearing camps alone doesn't provide long-term solutions.

"Those people disperse and then they place themselves somewhere else, because we don't really have solutions about step two right now," she said Friday. "Hope Village is a solution but it's only one. ... So we need to keep thinking about innovative solutions."

At the end of last month, the Coalition for the Homeless outlined four recommendations it believes can be the starting point to end homelessness in Louisville, a plan it called "A New Path Home":

  • Right to Shelter
    • On any night, there are at least 375 more unhoused Louisvillians than shelter beds. The Coalition recommends a right to shelter ordinance to fund the creation for 375 new non-congregate, well-staffed, 24/7 shelter options so no one has to sleep on the street.
  • Affordable & Permanent Supportive Housing
    • A 2019 report showed that Louisville was short 31,000 units of affordable housing for our poorest households, with some Louisvillians needing more intensive support. The Coalition recommends a new revenue stream to fund 3,750 units of housing every year for eight years so that every poor Louisvillian can afford a home, as well as permanent supporting housing for those who need services.
  • Medical Respite
    • Unhoused patients are often discharged to the streets, making it impossible for them to recover. The Coalition recommends funding 45 medical respite beds (30 new, 15 existing) through Norton/UofL and Family Health Centers so these patients have time, support, and the space needed to recover.
  • Eviction Prevention
    • Louisville's pre-COVID eviction rate was twice the national average but with relief funding, Louisville cut that number in half. The Coalition recommends new funds to maintain that progress, keeping thousands of Louisvillians in their homes and out of homelessness.

Based on data from 2021, the Coalition said more than 10,000 people experienced homelessness in Louisville. 

Earlier this year, the city announced plans to spend more than $30 million to address homelessness and create a community care campus in Smoketown. Mayor Craig Greenberg has also said he is working to add 15,000 affordable housing units to the city in the next four years.

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