A ‘one-stop shop’ to reduce homelessness in Lexington just needs a little more Christmas love | Opinion
For years, the Lexington Rescue Mission operated out of a small location off Georgetown Street, trying to help the city’s most vulnerable populations find homes and health.
During COVID, their population swelled, and organizers realized they needed more space. A lot more space. Roughly 25,000 square feet is what consultants told them, said executive director Laura Carr.
They tried to move to the former Episcopal Diocese on Fourth Street, but the city turned down a special permit.
Then someone pointed out the large red brick building on West Second and Jefferson. Very large. 52,806 square feet, to be exact. Built in 1937 for the nurses/nuns who worked at the old St. Joseph Hospital on the other side of Second Street, it had housed various other offices over the years. (There’s still a closed tunnel used by the nuns to get from their dorm to the hospital.)
The owner was willing to sell for $3.9 million, and it would take roughly $4 million more to get it ready for all the services the Rescue Mission provides.
“We didn’t have money in the bank, but it seemed like God would provide the funding,” Carr said. And so it was. They’ve raised $4.6 million, and still need $2.3 million to open completely. They’re actively fundraising and hope to raise what’s necessary to open early in the new year.
But when they do, it could change the face of social services in Lexington.
Thanks to the huge space, the Mission will not only offer their own wrap-around services. The Isaiah House Community Center is already open to help clients with mental and behavioral health and dental care. Jubilee Jobs also has an office that is up and running, which will help many of the Mission’s clients with full employment.
“We’re here to provide solutions,” Carr said. “Housing and jobs for those who need them is critical if we’re going to improve our city. To me, this is a one-stop shop to really rebuild people’s lives and thrive.”
The mission
This will not be a homeless shelter where people sleep. It will be a place where people find their own, permanent places to live with all the support that is needed.
That includes:
▪ Breakfast and lunch served Monday through Friday every day. While people are there, they can do laundry, meet with social workers and pastoral counselors who can help them with recovery services, housing vouchers or health care.
▪ Bigger offices for the Mission’s re-entry program, which helps formerly incarcerated people make the transition to regular life. Those who go through the Mission’s re-entry program have a 13% recidivism rate, compared to the state’s 27%, Carr said.
“I’m excited just being in these new spaces,” said Julius Johnson, who directs the reentry services. “It lets you think bigger.”
▪ A program that works with One Lexington to help people and families impacted by gun violence.
▪ A new program called Circles Lexington, which is an 18-month mentoring program to help people get out of poverty by helping them build social capital and relationships that bolster newly found homes and jobs — things like transportation and child care.
▪ A computer lab that helps with hard skills or licenses, like food handler certificates. One client recently got a scholarship to do a 40-hour online training in cybersecurity but didn’t have Wi-Fi or a computer to work on, Carr noted.
“Marketable skills can be the difference between someone making it or not,” she said.
▪ New storage space will allow them to store furniture, clothes and food donations to help people outfit new housing.
Carr said that it’s easy to talk about finding homes and jobs for people. But it’s incredibly difficult to actually do, and it’s just the start. Then there’s transportation, child care, mental health challenges and the need forvarious supports.
“There are so many people ready for change, but there are so many barriers,” Carr said.
That’s why this holistic approach made so much sense to Mason King, CEO of Jubilee Jobs.
“Jubilee is a small organization and we can’t solve all these problems,” he said. “It’s a lot smarter to recognize who is doing this work already — Lexington Rescue Mission was setting the standard for compassionate care, so we could compliment the good work they do and benefit from the services offered.”
Some hesitation
The Historic Western Suburb Neighborhood Association is bracketed by The Salvation Army shelter on Main Street and the Hope Center on the north side. That’s a lot of social services, and many residents have been concerned about what a new organization as big as this one would mean for the neighborhood.
“Our goal has always been to ensure we have a clean, safe neighborhood,” said Jill Hall, the current president of the neighborhood association. “We are obviously still apprehensive because we don’t know how everything will progress and impact our neighborhood. We’ve reached out and started a dialogue about communication, and I’ve found them to be very open to listening.
“We all just want our downtown to be welcoming and a place for people to feel safe, and hopefully we can work together,” Hall said.
Charlie Lanter, the city’s commissioner of Housing Advocacy and Community Development, has no such qualms.
“The Lexington Rescue Mission is a critical partner for us,” he said. For example, they staff the winter weather program, which houses people in hotels in the coldest times of the year.
“They’re working to help get those people houses, jobs, mental health care,” he said. “In order to do that they have to have a strong base of operations. I understand that no one says, ‘I want a social services program in my neighborhood,’ but I think I would reassure people this is an organization that does things right — they do it well and they are respectful of neighbors.”
The three main agencies in the new location are Christian-based missions, which “helps us align on how we approach the work,” Carr said. “We’re all focused on loving people with the love of God.”
To donate to the Lexington Rescue Mission, go to https://lexingtonrescue.org/donate/.
This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
