LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city is reversing course on a decision to clear out several homeless camps in Louisville.
Earlier this week, the city posted 21-day notices at several encampments downtown, around Wayside Christian Mission, and on Adair Street near the airport that they planned to clear in mid-April.
But now the city says those camps will just be cleaned, after some city leaders took issue with the plan to clear the camps during a pandemic.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance says unsheltered people should stay where they are because clearing camps can break connections with service providers and increase the potential for COVID-19 to spread.
"Dispersing people experiencing homelessness throughout the community and removing them from their camp right now will harm contact tracing efforts, delay the vaccination efforts, it's just not the right thing to do in the pandemic and I'm glad we're not doing it," Metro Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9, said.
Advocates say homeless camps are targeted each year ahead of the Kentucky Derby, accusing the city of trying to cover up the homeless crisis for one weekend a year.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's office released the following statement in response:
“Our No. 1 priority is the safety and health of our residents, and the conditions at these camps are neither. The 21-day postings will remain, but mindful of the CDC considerations regarding COVID-19 and homelessness, we are moving deliberately, beginning with cleaning these areas of trash, feces and other unhealthful situations. Our Office of Resilience and Community Services team and other Metro agencies will continue to work together with the Coalition for Homeless, its members and other partners to provide the residents of these camps with resources and services, including help obtaining medical care, making referrals to shelter, and providing other supportive services such as behavioral and mental health counseling, and drug and alcohol addiction assessments. We also plan to work with Public Health to offer vaccinations to those in the camps.
“One positive result of our work is that our city’s waiting list for sheltering homeless families stands at zero." - Vincent James, Louisville Metro’s Chief of Community Building
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