New $6.2 million addition to Lexington shelter looks to connect clients with housing

The Hope Center Emergency Shelter will soon offer single living units and individualized services to homeless veterans as they focus on addressing the causes of homelessness in the community.

Mayor Linda Gorton alongside Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and Hope Center board members broke ground on a $6.2 million transitional and veterans housing addition Wednesday morning at the shelter.

The addition will help the shelter address the root causes of homelessness and support clients as they transition into permanent housing, according to a news release.

The addition includes 72 beds, 24 of which will be single living units specifically for veterans.

Rufus Friday, executive director of Hope Center, said there are not enough transitional housing opportunities in the community for long term success to happen, and the Hope Center intends to be a part of the solution.

“With 72 beds now available in a transitional housing environment and dedicating 24 of those to veterans, we will have the room to move clients into a more suitable housing on their path to self-sufficiency,” Friday said. “We will be able to support clients who primarily need a stepping stone to restabilize in order to return to our community.”

The Hope Center is a part of a larger recovery system in the state that works to help Kentuckians with substance abuse and homelessness, Coleman said in her remarks. The addition of 18,000 square feet of space to the shelter will help Kentuckians get the support they need.

While the addition does not increase capacity at the shelter, it will provide better living conditions and help the center support veterans through case management, recovery, job training and mental health counseling, Friday said.

Alliance Corporation is the construction manager for the project, and construction will begin on June 12, Friday said. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2024.

The 24-hour shelter will remain open during construction, and there will be signage to direct visitors where to go as the construction gets underway, Friday said.

Sixty-percent of the project will be funded by American Rescue Plan Act funding and the U.S. department of Veterans Affairs, Friday said. The remaining 40% will be provided by the Hope Center through donors and a capital campaign in the fall.

“When the Hope Center was named over 30 years ago, it was intended to stand for ‘Help Our People Grow,’” Cathy Jacobs, Help Center board chair, said. “As a board and staff, we are grateful we get to do just that.”

Hope Center founder attends the ground breaking

The Hope Center Emergency Shelter opened on June 14, 1993, to provide shelter to those in need and address affordable housing issues.

Debra Hensley, who was the chair of the Task Force on Homelessness which established the shelter, was present at the ground breaking Wednesday.

“We appreciate your dedication to getting a whole center started, and also laying the foundation for where we are today,” Friday said to Hensley.

Hensley said she is proud to see how the shelter has grown and that it continues to positively impact the community.