LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There are several hundred people sleeping on the streets in Louisville, and the concern is that someone could die.
And while there's a proposal on the table to help remedy that, not everyone thinks it will work.
Louisville Metro Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith wants to use vacant buildings like First Link on Liberty and the Second Street Kroger location to house the homeless.
"We have an emergency temporary crisis. It's freezing out here. We had two people die on the sidewalk recently," she said. "I cannot imagine trying to live out here in this freezing weather."
And Smith is concerned there will be more deaths if the city doesn't take action.
"We need to find places for people to sleep and be warm in safe and healthy environments," she said.
The buildings are empty, Mayor Greg Fischer's said there are potential dangers and concerns.
"How are you going to make sure that these places are safe?" asked Eric Friedlander, chief of resilience and community services for Metro Government.
Friedlander is also co-chair of the Homeless Encampment Task Force and said safety is just one of many concerns with using vacant building.
"How are you going to provide heat and bathrooms? And are there enough of those kinds of things?" he said. "Those are all things you have to take into account before you can just open a building."
Friedlander said the proposal includes risks for the city and the homeless.
"You don't want to set up a situation that could be potentially dangerous to folks," he said.
But Friedlander also said the city and task force are working on the problem.
"We've made progress, and I know that we will continue to make progress," he said.
Smith and Amanda Mills, a homeless outreach worker, are also on the task force, and despite the risks and concerns, both want the city to consider the proposal.
"We have 740 un-sheltered people on any given night who are using the bathroom out here on sidewalks, on steps, in yards, in parks," Sexton Smith said. "So why couldn't we put up temporary bathroom facilities such as porta-potties."
Mills agrees that more is needed.
"It is good that they're talking about it, but we've been talking about it for over 11 months," she said.
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