New report shows increase in Louisville's homeless population

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville's homeless population has increased by more than 40% over the past three years, according to a newly released report from the city's Coalition for the Homeless.

A breakdown of the report shows the number of people experiencing homelessness on an annual basis over the past several years:

2018: 7,572 people (69% in shelter, 30% inside for extreme weather, 1% streets or elsewhere)
2019: 8,745 people (63% in shelter, 26% inside for extreme weather, 11% streets or elsewhere)
2020: 9,693 people (64% in shelter, 22% inside for extreme weather, 14% streets or elsewhere)
2021: 10,640 people (55% in shelter, 10% inside for extreme weather, 35% streets or elsewhere)

"It's very alarming for us to see an increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness," said Catherine McGeeney, director of communications for the Coalition for the Homeless.

McGeeney said at least one dozen groups helped create the report over several months. She said the coalition typically releases an annual report, but this one is more in-depth to include trends found with the COVID-19 pandemic and previous years.

According to McGeeney, federal COVID-19 relief funds dedicated to homelessness assistance are part of the reason for an increase in homeless services, simply because more people were able to be helped. But she believes more people are also in need.

"There were also just more people who were hit hard," she said.

Also, the report is just a snap-shot of a bigger picture of what's going on in Louisville.

"There are absolutely more people than just that (10,000 number)," McGeeney said. "The number that we released is just about the number of people who were able to be served."

Imad Bader, who said he's been living on the streets for more than a year, is currently living in a homeless camp in downtown Louisville.

"I got no choice, but most of the world out there, it's kind of hard," he said.

He's hoping for solutions.

"My future is to get out of there, get a better place, get my life going again," Bader.said

Groups like Feed Louisville work to provide services. The co-founder, Donny Greene, said he expects to see a rise in the homeless population again next year.

"... because we have all the evictions happening post-COVID," Greene said.

He said housing has to be a priority for the city.

"This city, desperately — and lots of cities in this country, we're not the only ones going through this — desperately, desperately need housing," Greene said. "We could take 35,000 units tomorrow, and it's probably not enough, honestly."

The coalition agrees with the need for more affordable housing. Its report also says improving shelters, providing medical assistance and having a coordinated community response are steps that are needed going forward.

The city of Louisville is planning to open a designated outdoor space for about 50 people to live in tents in Old Louisville in an area that will be known as the Hope Village. After many months of delays, the area is still not ready to open just yet, but announcements are expected soon.

The coalition hopes Louisville’s next budget will provide more funding for homelessness services.

To read the report in full, click here.

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