LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) — Last month, a Louisville hotel that provides housing support for people experiencing homelessness asked the city for a lifeline. Now, it is expected to close its doors within 30 days.
When Mayor Craig Greenberg unveiled his nearly $1.1 billion budget in April, touting a focus on affordable housing, the Arthur Street Hotel, located right off of Interstate 65, was left out of the spending plan.
With the help of VOCAL-KY and other community advocates, the hotel asked for $1.5 million from the city in May to keep its doors open. It had stopped taking additional guests because the funding was expected to run out in June.
Dozens of people spoke to the hotel’s impact during that press conference, from longtime supporters who have worked with Arthur Street since its opening to residents who said it saved their lives.
"Arthur Street Hotel is more than a building," said Christen "Tiny" Herron, the Director of Housing Services, at the time. "It is a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Arthur Street offers something our city needs and something that is not offered anywhere else in Louisville."
However, when Louisville Metro Council approved the budget Thursday night, money from the Arthur Street Hotel was nowhere to be found.
"We're disappointed," said Donny Greene, co-executive director of Arthur Street Hotel. "We're profoundly disappointed."
A message outside of Arthur Street Hotel. (WDRB Photo)
This year's approved budget includes more than $40 million for housing needs, with $500,000 dedicated to Greenberg's "Home for Good" initiative, which aims to move 250 people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.
But since opening in 2022, Greene said the hotel has helped moved more than 400 people into affordable housing, surpassing the mayor's goal by 150 people.
"The city doesn't apparently see the value in what we've offered here," Greene said.
The hotel provides no-cost housing to people experiencing homelessness, regardless of the length of stay. According to its website, residents are also given medical and mental health support and help obtaining legal documents.
The hotel was brought up discussion Thursday, with JP Lyninger, who represents District 6, recognizing its importance. He did not agree with several items in the budget, including leaving Arthur Street out.
"Arthur Street Hotel provides services that no one else provides in terms of getting people off the streets, giving them social services and getting them ready to be back in housing," he said.
Metro Council's budget chairman, Kevin Kramer, however, said the funding that the hotel needed was "well beyond their ask of Metro Louisville."
"Even if we had funded them at the ask that they received. it would not have been enough to save them," Kramer said.
Greene simply responded: "I don't think that's true."
Now, without city support, the hotel is expected to close within a month. Greene said it will still stay open until everyone currently in the hotel finds permanent housing, but he said it's down to "just a few folks."
Greene said he is now trying to figure out what's next. He hopes the Louisville community can figure out an alternative.
"If we don't do something to take care of our whole community, we are going to have much bigger problems than we currently have," he said.
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