‘The need is getting greater’: Jeffersonville church partners with nonprofit to help the homeless
Published: Jul. 17, 2022 at 8:00 PM EDT
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) -With the homeless community growing on both sides of the Ohio River, two southern Indiana organizations are doing everything they can to help those needing a home.
Local nonprofit, Jesus Cares at Exit 0 has partnered with West Maple Baptist Church to help those in need of a home get back on their feet.
Together they offer option church services, community meals, and now a renovated kitchen, showers and laundry for those in need. They also offer case management.
Paul Stensrud, director of Jesus Cares at Exit Zero, has led the effort to help the homeless in Jeffersonville for the past 15 years. He said for the past eight years, West Maple Baptist church has helped make their mission possible.
Even with the improvements, Stensrud said there’s still work to do.
“Every time someone comes through that door, man, we love on them,” Strensrud said. “We will hug them, we will give them the encouragement. But in reality, we don’t want to see them tomorrow. We want to see them in their own place with the proper resources and doing good for themselves.”
Strenstrud said because of the housing market and inflation, their demand has skyrocketed. They’re serving at least 200 people a week and they need donations and volunteers to keep their doors open.
“The need is getting greater,” Stensrud said. “It’s basically due to the fact of evictions. You can feed all day long, but the problem is how do we get them off the streets if they don’t know how to get to that level?”
Joseph Shireman is a volunteer at West Maple Baptist Church and said Exit 0 helped him while he was living in a shelter.
“To come to a place, and there’s no judgment, it makes you feel happy,” Shireman said. It makes you fill with joy.”