There’s plenty we do, and can do, in Lexington to improve the plight of homelessness

I’ve worked with Lexington’s homeless population long enough to know that while each person who lives on our streets is unique, they face many of the same challenges when it comes to turning their lives around. In his February 22nd op-ed, Vice Mayor Steve Kay identified many of these barriers, including mental illness, substance abuse, lack of affordable housing, the need to raise the minimum wage, and bad policy decisions at the state and federal level.

I agree with the Vice Mayor’s list of causes, but I also urge you to remember that we can’t wait for Frankfort or Washington to respond. We have to keep working to build on the successful, innovative and collaborative work that so many have done in recent years to address this complicated and persistent problem. Here’s a partial list of recent successes demonstrating the power of community action:

Mayor’s Commission on Homelessness – Established by Mayor Jim Gray in 2012 this commission (chaired by Vice Mayor Kay) took a highly effective in-depth look at homelessness in our city and issued 48 recommendations. Most of these have been implemented, including the creation of the city’s permanent Office of Homeless Prevention & Intervention.

New Life Homeless Day Center – The Mayor’s Commission highlighted the need for a day-time shelter to give homeless an out of the weather option and serve as a connecting point to other nonprofits who could help them permanently recover. With the strong support of Mayor Gray and non-profit leaders, I opened the New Life Day Center in 2011. Since then, our team of dedicated staff, donors, and volunteers have served over 5,000 homeless clients.

Panhandler Van Jobs Program - When Lexington experienced a panhandling epidemic in 2016, the New Life Day Center worked with Urban County Government to launch this initiative which pays homeless panhandler men and women to remove litter from Lexington’s streets. The program has helped reduce the number of panhandlers from 150 per day in 2016 to 16 in 2021. Over 400 individual panhandlers accepting employment in this program have removed 1.5 million gallons of litter.

DV8 Kitchen – This local non-profit restaurant chain has adopted a revolutionary business philosophy, embracing the concept of relational employment instead of transactional employment. They train people in early stages of chemical dependency recovery, offers second chance employment, and also share the DV8 mission success with other businesses. This approach has earned DV8 Kitchen national media attention, increased profits, and opened the door for more than 300 people in recovery to obtain steady employment.

Housing First – Coordinated by the Hope Center, this pilot project provides housing and case management to homeless people struggling with substance use and mental health issues. The individuals in the program, on average, make four fewer hospital visits per year and spend 19 fewer days in jail, both of which translate into thousands of dollars in savings and cost avoidance. Since the launch of this successful pilot, several hundred housing units have been filled by people formerly living on the street.

Bluegrass Community Health Center – A UK College of Public Health study was commissioned by New Life Day Center to look at homeless survival rates. The study found a horrifying 30-year gap in average dying age between Lexington’s general population and its homeless population. One significant cause is believed to be the lesser amount of preventive medical care available to homeless. To help address this, Bluegrass Community Health Center sends doctors and nurses for weekly visits to New Life Day Center. They along with Health First now provide preventive care and prescription drugs to the homeless.

This is a great list of efforts that illustrates the power of community action to affect homelessness, but the demand for homeless services is even greater. Yes, Lexington needs more state and federal resources. But we can’t control that. What we do control is our community’s response. That’s why we need individuals, non-profits, businesses, houses of worship and local government to continue — and to deepen — their commitment of time, money and other resources to help more people living on Lexington’s streets find their way home.

Steve Polston is a former CEO of Lockheed Martin Nuclear Division and founder of Lexington New Life Homeless Day Center.