The Catholic Action Center is partnering with the Central Ky Housing and Homelessness Initiative and the Street Voice Council to conduct the second annual Street Survey. Ginny Ramsey the Director and co-founder of the CAC says they will be canvassing known homeless camps, cars, and abandoned buildings.
“The truth is we don't have enough housing for those who are on fixed incomes or those who are low income. I mean we, the number of evictions that are going on, the number of, people are just being left out there.”
Mayor Linda Gorton says a major challenge is that some of the city’s homeless do not want to enter a shelter and no one can force them to receive help or services. She says they are also looking to adopt strategies being used in other cities.
“They're actually sitting down one-on-one with homeless people, and they're doing what I would call as a nurse, triaging. What are the issues? Is there a mental health component? Is there an addiction component? Does the person have an income which many of them do, whether it's Social Security or whatever? Is there family in town? What are the issues so that then we can help them more directly?
Last year’s Street Survey, which did not include anyone in the annual HUD count, showed more than 2,400 homeless individuals in Lexington, 409 were children.
