Outreach groups fear for homeless in cold after many camps cleared out
WLKY – November 12, 2019
City crews cleared out many popular homeless camps earlier this year
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —
The dangerously cold temperatures will pose a real risk Tuesday night for the more than 300 homeless people in Louisville, but this November is much different than the past.
City crews cleared out many popular homeless camps earlier this year. Several signs have been posted around sites of former homeless camps.
They read “No Camping at any Time.” In some cases, fences have been put up to block entry.
Even with signs posted at the underpass on Jefferson Street, a handful of homeless people were still seen sleeping a few feet away from them.
“It’s not a crime to be homeless,” said Amanda Mills, founder of Southend Street Angels. “I know what it’s like to be homeless in the cold. I speak their language.”
Her group and other homeless outreach agencies said Louisville’s clearance of longtime homeless camps forces the less-fortunate to scramble for a place to call home.
Groups that are trying to help them in this weather are scrambling too.
“Will we find them again tonight? We just don’t know until we get back out there,” said Paul Stensrud, director of Jesus Cares at Exit 0.
WLKY talked to Stensrud as he reloaded a truck with supplies that he and his staff planned to hand out Tuesday evening.
As snow fell Monday night, their team searched an expanded area of Louisville. He said that what they saw was heart wrenching.
“We had one lady that was literally walking barefoot because her shoes were so wet that she thought it was just best to keep them off her feet,” Stensrud said. “They should’ve been under those bridges where it was dry, at least.”
For now, both outreach groups are doing what they can.
They have been collecting and donating everything from winter coats to shoes.
“What’s going to be heartbreaking is when an outreach team does find a camp that is well off the beaten path and we have another fatality,” Stensrud said. “Then that’s probably going to wake the city up a little bit more.”
Stensrud said there’s a need for coats that are size large or bigger. They also need larger sizes of waterproof and/or winter shoes.
Here’s how you can donate to Exit 0. Here’s how you can help Southend Street Angels.