LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — With winter quickly approaching, advocates are shining a light on Lexington's growing homelessness crisis.
The Catholic Action Center said that the results of this year's street survey paint a grim picture. They revealed them during a press conference Wednesday morning.
"We cannot thrive when 3,000 people in this count are homeless," said Tanya Fogle of Council District 1.
"Even one person cold or freezing on the streets this winter is unacceptable to any of us," said Catholic Action Center chaplain Laura Babbage.
Completed Aug. 28, the survey revealed more then 3,034 people reported experiencing homelessness, a 25.9% increase over last year.
Those surveyed said the top contributing factors to their situation were not enough money, housing is too expensive, and the loss of a job.
It's a reality one volunteer knows all too well.
"I've known it was a problem for awhile, but until I became homeless, it's just mind-boggling how many people are struggling on the streets, said Janey Edmonson with the Street Voice Council.
Edmonson helped administer the survey. She told LEX 18 she was evicted during the pandemic. She believes the issue of affordable housing is getting worse.
In fact, 25% of survey respondents said they were evicted this year.
Edmonson is now in the process of finding new housing, but she hopes this data will inspire city leaders to do more.
"I never in my life thought I'd be homeless, but circumstances, Covid, different situations," she said. "People don't realize they could be two, three paychecks away from being homeless themselves."
Commissioner of Housing Advocacy and Community Development Charlie Lanter released the following statement regarding the matter:
“We appreciate the Catholic Action Center’s efforts to survey individuals experiencing homelessness and to broaden the definition to include those in non-shelter housing. However, we are disappointed that the organization continues to question the LexCount, Fayette County’s report submitted annually under rules set by the federal government, which involves dozens more organizations in its planning and execution each year, and takes enormous pains to ensure data integrity.
It’s important to highlight that approximately one-third of the individuals counted in the Catholic Action Center report—over 1,000—reside in recovery programs, and do not meet standard industry definitions of homelessness. Nonetheless, we are encouraged by the reported decline in the number of Fayette County students experiencing unsheltered homelessness, which may reflect recent investments in the Hand Up for Housing partnership with Fayette County Public Schools and other resources.
This year and in previous years, we have requested detailed methodology for this count, including information on how duplication was avoided and which organizations were included in previous years. Unfortunately, we have yet to receive this information in any level of detail. Without it, we question some of the data, particularly when compared to the annual LexCount, which offers full transparency regarding its methodology and what people and organizations are counted. Given the mobility of this population, it is crucial that counts conducted over the course of a day carefully prevent duplication. Furthermore, including new programs in the count without historical data can lead to artificially inflated growth rates. As such, comparing this less formal process to the LexCount is not a fair comparison; they are fundamentally different.
Lexington invests over $3.3 million annually in emergency shelters, outreach, and other programs aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness. Between FY20 and FY25, the city has allocated over $44 million to these efforts, not including affordable housing funds. We remain committed to making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. Unfortunately, the report released today fails to acknowledge the significant work accomplished daily by countless individuals and organizations throughout Lexington who are dedicated to supporting those in need.”
