LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Community leaders are celebrating the six-month milestone of Louisville's safe outdoor space.
In April, The Hope Village opened up 53 tents designed for people experiencing houselessness, providing them food, support and a pathway to permanent housing and addiction recovery.
Leaders from The Hope Buss, a Louisville non-profit founded by Rev. Stachelle Bussey, operates the space. They say they've served 91 residents so far, made up of 52 men, 35 women and four people identifying as transgender.
People between the ages of 25 and 54 years old accounted for the largest percentage.
"A lot of our residents deal with a lot of guilt and a lot of shame, and we take pride in giving them their dignity back," said one of the group's care managers who spoke at a celebratory info session Wednesday.
Organization leaders say they have goals to expand their reach even farther in the months to come, in order to secure funding beyond the $1 million granted by the city for the 1-year pilot program.
They emphasized they're focused on transitional care, getting people to the resources they need beyond their stay. They say a big part of this has been protecting folks in the meantime.
Tiny Herron, who's led The Forgotten Louisville volunteer group for years, is in charge of harm reduction within The Hope Village. She says in these first six months, they've been able to better streamline people to services after they leave.
"Many times we can engage with folks in the community, we can get them connected to services -- but then maybe their encampment gets cleared and we lose them, so then we lose the process of housing or treatment or mental health services. So what we're seeing a lot of is that consistency," Herron said.
On Wednesday, Bussey, Director of Operations Angel Todd, and others say their mission is working, celebrating the 700 meals they've provided weekly since The Hope Village opened in April.
They've helped folks find apartments, jobs and recovery programs.
Herron says just keeping people alive for another day is a win for the whole community.
"It's a soft place to rest, to let us love on you and offer you hope and give you these services if you want them, so you can move to the next step," she said.
Group leaders say they've received more than 230 referrals from people in the community.
Now over the next six months, the focus is to grow those numbers to prove to the city the program's worth funding for years to come too.
The Hope Village is hosting a winter supplies drive through the end of November. If you'd like to donate, click here.
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