Two Lexington homeless shelters to merge, move to Industry Road

Two shelters that serve Lexington’s homeless will merge and move to a former city building on Industry Road to create a 24-hour homeless shelter off Winchester Road.

Community Inn, an overnight shelter on Winchester Road, and Catholic Action Center, a day shelter on East Fifth Street, will combine operations. The move is expected to take approximately four months.

Divine Providence Inc., the organization that runs both the inn and the center, paid $550,000 to the city for the Industry Road building. The city will get ownership of the building on East Fifth Street, city officials said Monday.

The combination of the two shelters will allow Divine Providence to better serve the homeless population and expand its services, shelter officials said Monday.

Currently, people have to leave the Community Inn in the morning and either go to Catholic Action or another day shelter and cannot return to the Community Inn until early evening.

“The new facility allows an increase in on-site services, more opportunities for our community to connect and build relationships with our citizens on the street, and a path from the street to a home,” said Ginny Ramsey, co-director of Catholic Action and Community Inn. “One location will offer our guests more dignity, opportunity and safety.”

In a written statement, Lexington city leaders said there is no immediate plan for the Catholic Action Center’s building on East Fifth Street. Community Inn, which is leased by Divine Providence, will no longer be used as a shelter once the move is completed.

The deal has been in the works for years. The agreement will end more than four years of litigation involving the city, the homeless shelter and fair-housing advocates. The settlement also could halt a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into alleged fair-housing violations by the city.

As part of the deal, the Lexington Fair Housing Council and Divine Providence have agreed to withdraw and dismiss the federal complaint alleging, among other things, that a city planning body’s decision to revoke the Community Inn’s conditional-use permit violated federal fair-housing laws. Divine Providence and the fair-housing group filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in September 2012. The case was eventually turned over to federal prosecutors.

Art Crosby, executive director of the Fair Housing Council, said he has been in contact with Department of Justice lawyers and thinks that federal investigators will drop the case once they see a final, written copy of the settlement.

The Urban County Council approved the proposed settlement and transfer of the properties in September 2015. It took nearly a year of negotiations to hammer out all the details.

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray said the building at 1055 Industry Road also contains a police substation, which will remain. A state workforce and employment office will also remain in the building for now.

“The city is committed to maintaining a police presence in the Winchester Road area,” Gray said.

Ramsey said the new building will allow the group to double its shelter space. Plans call for the addition of showers and a commercial-grade kitchen so hot meals can be served. They also plan to have space to host more social service groups such as the Community Action Council and mental health groups so residents can connect to services.

“We also hope to add transitional housing units,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey said they will start a fundraising campaign to pay for the building’s remodeling. Community Inn and the Catholic Action Center receive no federal, city or state money. The Catholic Action Center on East Fifth Street was the group’s first building, which opened in June 2000. People came forward to help the group get off its feet in 2000, Ramsey said.

Ramsey said she has no doubt the community will respond again as the group transitions to the new building.

“We have faith that people will come forward,” Ramsey said. “This has always been a community’s response to help those who have been left out.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Two Lexington homeless shelters to merge, move to Industry Road."