As need surges, Lexington gives more money to food, eviction prevention programs
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council agreed this week to give additional money to some nutrition and eviction prevention programs as the demand for food and housing stabilization services has increased.
The city previously allocated $635,520 dollars to seven nonprofits who have food pantries or feeding programs.
Thursday, the city council gave final approval to increase that amount by $208,025. Organizations that will receive additional funding include FoodChain, God’s Pantry Food Bank, Glean Kentucky, Greenhouse 17, Lexington Pride Center, Moveable Feast and Nathaniel Mission.
At a Tuesday work session, the council had agreed to add $150,000 to a contract with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass for eviction prevention services. Councilman James Brown, who sponsored the resolution, said that program, which provides mediation and legal services for people facing eviction, will be out of money before the end of the current fiscal year, June 30.
The council final vote on both funding measures at Thursday’s council meeting was unanimous. The additional money will come from surplus funds from the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025.
Vice Mayor Dan Wu, who spearheaded the effort to give feeding programs more money, said the organizations were vetted by city social services. Organizers asked for $841,000, but were awarded $633,000 through the city’s extended social resource grant program, a competitive program for Lexington nonprofits.
The $208,025 will make up the difference between what the organizations requested versus what they were previously awarded.
Multiple people who work with those programs spoke at the Tuesday work session about the surge in demand for food. Many food pantries and feeding programs saw a jump at the beginning of the month when federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits were terminated Nov. 1 amid the federal government shutdown. Those benefits have since been restored.
However, many social service providers said they saw a dramatic increase in demand starting this summer before SNAP benefits, which people use to pay for groceries, were cut.
Calvin Penn of Moveable Feast, which provides food for people in hospice and those living with HIV/AIDS, said many social service groups are also facing funding cuts. At the same time, more people are turning to those programs for help.
“Our food costs have gone up 15 to 20 percent and our supply costs have doubled,” Penn said.
Nathaniel Mission has a wait list for some of its feeding and pantry programs, said the Rev. Daniel Baer, the executive director of the nonprofit located off Versailles Road.
“We continue to see rising need; numerous families and individuals facing food insecurity,” Baer said. “We have more individuals seeking services” than what Nathaniel Mission can provide.
