LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Riding down Loudon Avenue, white structures are being built. They are temporary warming shelters for the unhoused this winter. Business leaders in the area of the city, including LEX 18, attended a meeting about the project.
Lee Hall of Hallway Feeds says, "We were basically told by the city that nobody else in the community wanted it so they had no additional options but to put it where they did."
Brett Setzer of Setzer Properties explained, "We feel for these people you know I don’t want anyone to freeze to death and die you know that’s not what we're complaining about. What we're frustrated about is the lack of transparency."
Business leaders are concerned that no one shared that this project was underway until after it had already begun. Concerns include employee and client safety, bio-waste, and more.
Hall says, "We're gonna have up to 160 men and women up here during the course of the winter using bathroom facilities, shower facilities, sleeping facilities, warming facilities -- all of which are needed I understand that I’m not begrudging that I just think the process in which this came down is kinda backwards."
The project is in partnership with the YMCA, the City of Lexington, and the HOPE Center. HOPE Center leaders shared in a statement in-part quote, "The intent of this temporary winter weather shelter is to ensure there are sufficient shelter beds available so that no individual has to remain outside during inclement winter weather." They explain, HOPE center staff will be monitoring the shelters and working with a security company. Leaders with the catholic action center say this was badly needed.
Ginny Ramsey with the Catholic Action Center says, "We've never seen as many as we're all experiencing in our 24 years of being on the streets."
The Catholic Action Center recently helped complete a homeless survey. It found that 2,401 people were experiencing homelessness in that snapshot and more than 500 were on the streets.
Ramsey says, "Let’s be known for our compassion. Let’s do this together and make it happen. This should be the last winter we have to deal with a temporary fix."
Business leaders agree it's time for the city to find a permanent solution. They say it will take the entire community to make it happen. But now, they’re looking for more transparency.
Setzer says, “This isn’t about the y and the hope center and the city it’s just about the process. And I think the process, had it been done in a professional fashion in the right way and been informative and we understood why it ended here we would have been a lot more open."
