Home for the holidays: Mental health organization helps provide housing for Louisville's homeless community

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As the days turn colder and holiday decorations go up, mental health experts say people are more likely to battle some form of mental illness. For those experiencing homelessness, the burden can be even worse.

In 2019, more than 1,000 Louisville residents were sleeping on the streets every night, according to KNOW Homelessness.

This holiday season, a mental health recovery agency is helping ease the burden by giving people a place of their own.

"It's a wonderful time of year, but it can be kind of a difficult time of year," said Katharine Dobbins, CEO of Wellspring. "It's been critical throughout this pandemic to get people off the streets, into their home so they can be healthy and safe at home."

As the city's homeless population grows, Dobbins said so have the number of people Wellspring is helping.

Over the holidays, she said, it's not unusual for more people to battle mental illnesses.

"People have increased depression around the holidays often times," Dobbins said. "There is anxiety about spending time with family, anxiety about being isolated and being alone."

Those battling mental illness are more likely to find themselves in chronic homelessness, Dobbins said, which means they've been homeless for more than a year.

Kayla LaMay and Tayshia Fox both battle multiple mental illnesses and were experiencing chronic homelessness when they were given apartments through Wellspring. LaMay moved in this week after being in and out of shelters for three years.

"The pandemic itself has made it worse for everybody," LaMay said.

Before receiving help from Wellspring, LaMay said they were self-medicating with illegal drugs and alcohol. LaMay said an unproperly medicated mental illness is challenging because it enhances the emotional and physical traumas of being homeless.

"It was causing a lot of problems with most of my mental illnesses and becoming more angry, aggressive — things like that," LaMay said.

Fox, who grew up in Louisville, became homeless two years ago. Without Wellspring, she said she isn't sure where she'd be today.

"It was like being stuck in a ditch, and you had no way of getting out until somebody threw a vine down and helped you climb out," she said. "It's very hard to get any help with your medical problems."

Now, both Fox and LaMay are on the path to recovery. They each have their own apartment, receive proper medication for their illnesses and regularly attend doctor visits with their Wellspring advisor.

"I could never thank them enough because of how much they've done for me and what they've allowed me to achieve," LaMay said.

The apartments give LaMay and Fox peace of mind amid the pandemic, they said, because they have a safe and clean place to live and spend the holidays.

"Many of our clients celebrate Christmas, and to be in a home of their own — not in the streets, not in a shelter — will mean so much to them," Dobbins said.

"They have been the most help I have ever imagined — kind of like a gift from God," Fox said. "It is the joys of my life now, being able to have my own place and being able to no longer struggle."

Started in 1982, Wellspring currently has 700 clients it is working to put on the path to recovery, according to Dobbins, who said that number could grow when the federal eviction moratorium ends at the end of the year.