LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville's homeless population has significantly increased since the pandemic. In January 2020, the Coalition for the Homeless' yearly "point in time" count found 139 people sleeping on the streets. In January 2023, that number rose to 581.
As part of addressing the issue, Mayor Craig Greenberg's administration has increased the number of relocations and cleanings done under the previous mayor, Greg Fischer.
"What I think is important -- and I agree with this -- is they tell you, 'This is not your home. This is temporary, y'all need to go out and try to improve your situation,' but it all depends on your situation," Greg Donley said, who's been homeless for about seven months.
Donley and many others told FOCUS they disagree with the notion that all or most homeless people have made poor life choices.
"Are there people with mental issues? Yeah. Are there people with physical issues? Yeah," Donley said. "I've been homeless for about six months. I broke my ankle and my tibia, and I couldn't pay rent."
The city cleans up homeless camps in two ways: through routine "cleanings" of hot spot areas in Smoketown, Phoenix Hill and NuLu that occur on Mondays and Wednesdays, and with standard relocations anywhere in the city when someone submits a complaint or Homeless Services Division notices it.
The city doesn't post "notices" on when the weekly cleanings will occur, but there are permanent metal signs in those areas. The standard relocations get between 24 hours and 21 days of notice.
The city provided FOCUS with two different data sets on how much each type of clearing increased between 2022 and 2023.
In an open records request, the city said there were 13 relocations and eight cleanings in the last six months of 2022 (for a total of 21). There were no records for the first six months. In 2023, there were 43 relocations and 49 cleanings (for a total of 92).
In a different email, Greenberg's press secretary Kevin Trager said the Public Works department "performed encampment cleanings services" 92 times in 2023 and 63 times in 2022.
"Anytime we do an encampment relocation, we take that very seriously," Nicole George, the deputy mayor for Public Health and Services, said. "The point is to mitigate safety and risk issues that exist within an encampment, or to those who work in close proximity to an encampment."
They city believes if encampments get too large, especially in the winter, they can pose a safety risk. One person died in an encampment fire in November, under I-65 in the Smoketown neighborhood.
The fire was right next to the site of the planned Community Care Campus, where Volunteers of America hopes to start construction in the second half of this year.
George said any time workers with Homeless Services Division interact with a homeless person, they give info on shelters and more, and do a "common assessment" to get them in the queue for permanent housing.
"My understanding is our homeless service outreach folks are consistently letting community members know about shelter options, day shelter options, where they can get mail, where they can get IDs, harm reduction methods," George said.
The city secured housing for "more than 30" houseless residents in 2023.
FOCUS recorded a Monday cleaning of the I-65 overpasses on Breckenridge and College Streets and many people said they have experience with the city clearing their stuff, and not so much with getting connected to resources.
"A lot of people involved with the city, they want to help. 'We want to do this, we want to do that.' And then you don't hear from them again," Donley said, who is staying at Hope Village but came outside to watch and help people who were being relocated. "It's like, 'We have to give you the speech.' And then we're gone."
"No they did not," Trayshauna Ware said. "They just cleared my stuff."
When we brought this up to Deputy Mayor George, she said most houseless residents have at least weekly conversations with police, HSD workers or one of the city's contracted partners.
"So, one, I would never want to diminish someone's feelings," she said. "What I can share with you is what I understand, and this comes from the experience of our outreach team and when I visit encampments, is that it's incredibly rare that you would visit a site and find someone who's been established there for at least 72 hours, that has not encountered someone from our Homeless Services team or one of the agencies we contract with."
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The city provided a spreadsheet for all 43 relocations in 2023 which showed the average amount of notice given between posting and relocation was eight days. The city often gave more notice than was required by its own local ordinances.
Donley said he graduated Ballard High School with Greenberg in 1991. He said it's funny to think how their lives have changed, and he invited the mayor to come see how they live.
"I just think it's funny in the situation...we were all out in the east end," Donley said. "And here I am down here, and he's up there. And if we could bridge it, I would love to sit down with him and just let him walk around with me and see what it's really like. Not just what people tell you."
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