NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Safer Kentucky Act went into effect earlier this year. The legislation criminalizes unauthorized camp sites which directly impacts homeless populations.
"Nobody should be looked down upon, when they’re trying,” says April McCubbins. She’s the operations director at the Jessamine County Homeless Coalition.
McCubbins knows what that feels like. Just a decade ago it was her life, living in Lexington, camping in a secluded wooded area.
She recalls, "House Bill 5 would have forced me into a situation where I was on the street all day and then fighting for a bed at a shelter."
The Jessamine County Homeless Coalition offers shelter for up to 90 days, but space is limited. Executive director Johnny Templin says people are now looking for other options.
He showed LEX 18 an opening to a tunnel that he tells me runs underneath downtown and throughout the city. He says right now, they believe people might be living down there, which is extremely dangerous.
Templin says, "That's a human, that's one of us. They might pass away in the elements of it, not to mention debris and everything else like that.”
He says this population only gets 2-3 hours of sleep at a time. He wants lawmakers to think about how this legislation is impacting smaller communities that are willing to work with the unhoused to find them better resources.
"Couldn’t we have forced a city to designate an area, a basketball court, with a port-a-potty and a light as a sleep-safe zone in between midnight and 6:00 a.m.?” asks Templin.
McCubbins explains that being homeless already comes with challenges, such as trying to find work. She says, "Number one I didn’t have an address, number two I very rarely had a phone when I was on the street, I may or may not have shower abilities."
She knows an extended criminal record won't help. She remembers what it's like to be treated less than. "And getting sneered at or the lip turned up or take five steps the other way – whatever,” remembers McCubbins.
Now, even a decade later it still makes her emotional. She believes everyone deserves a place they belong.
McCubbins says, "You can’t do that if you’re busy hiding them in storm drains, or putting them in a car and driving them across the county line for somebody else to take care of. How do you build a sense of community with that?"
