Louisville shelter adding space as Coalition for the Homeless fights to address 'growing crisis'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Families looking for shelter are finding themselves stuck on a waitlist to get in, Louisville's Coalition for the Homeless said Tuesday.

"It is unacceptable in a city in America that we have a waitlist for family shelter," said Catherine McGeeney, director of communications for the Coalition for the Homeless.

The Coalition laid out four recommendations in February 2023 to help put an end to homelessness in Louisville: creating a "right to shelter" ordinance in the city, creating affordable and permanent supportive housing, funding medical respite beds for patients needed support to recover, and helping prevent evictions.

For 2024, the Coalition said it will focus on families who have nowhere to sleep but in their cars or other unsafe areas. It plans to update requests for city funding to:

Fund and create affordable housing for families at the lowest incomes
Create and fund a right to shelter for families
Fund existing services at higher levels
Fund eviction prevention programs to keep families housed

George Eklund, the organization's director of education and advocacy, said at a news conference Tuesday that the Coalition plans to ask Metro Government for $30 million from the 2024 budget to go toward affordable housing development. He said $25 million would be earmarked for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, with many of the units dedicated to those at 30% of the area median income. Another $5 million would be used to purchase property to use for affordable housing.

The Coalition's executive director, Natalie Harris, said the ask is larger than in years' past. But she believes it's necessary.

"We really feel like this is a very reasonable ask, and it's in line with what the mayor has been saying as well," Harris said.

One of the local shelters that provides space for families is Wayside Christian Mission. It's currently undergoing plans to remodel part of its shelter to create for space for people to stay. Nina Moseley, Wayside's chief operating officer, said the administrative offices have moved from the first floor of the Jefferson Street location into Hotel Louisville on Broadway. That first floor on Jefferson Street is being converted into space for a women's shelter, which will in turn free up more shelter space for families.

"When this is finished and our women move down from upstairs, that will free up several more rooms upstairs for our families," Moseley said.

Moseley said she believes people in the community would be surprised to know just how many families are living on the streets, in cars and jumping from house to house to stay with relatives or friends, calling it a "desperate" situation.

"All of the family shelters are full," she said. "There are even some families in hotels, which is very expensive."

She does not have an expected date on when the women's shelter area will be ready to open but said it's funded through a grant that must be spent by the end of the year.

According to Moseley, with the new space there will be room to add more than 30 new family beds at Wayside Christian Mission, pushing the total number of family beds available there past 100.

The Coalition for the Homeless is pushing to reduce red tape for opening new shelters. The organization wants Metro Council to pass a right to shelter ordinance to bring the family waitlist to zero.

Other policy changes it wants to see include:
Support for eviction prevention and expungement policies
Eliminating camp clearings when shelters are full or weather is extreme
Incentivizing low-cost, affordable units in new developments
Updating zoning to make it easier to create affordable housing for people at 30% of the AMI or average median income

The Coalition has a campaign for people in Louisville to voice support for solutions for homeless families. To sign up or find out more, go to LouHomeless.org/families. You can also donate to help. Click here.

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