LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Out of everyone holding a shovel, breaking ground meant the most to Jeremiah Widemon. He was homeless until St. John Center intervened. They joined to celebrate work beginning on Sheehan Landing.
It presents new opportunities for folks like Widemon to get off the street, on their feet and build a new life.
"I'm a father now to a beautiful little girl, and I now have a place to have her stay and to spend time with her; that wouldn't be possible without housing," Widemon said.
St. John Center, located in downtown Louisville, helped him through a difficult time. The key to success, he found, is permanent housing. That's what St. John Center is doing more of with Sheehan Landing.
On a rainy day, it was an 80,000 foot field of mud, but it'll eventually be 80 places to live for unhoused people. The latest numbers from Coalition for the Homeless show that's about 581 people in Louisville.
St. John Center will also offer 24/7 services like case management, life skills training and front desk support.
However, the timeline for this effort shows how slow progress can be. American Rescue Plan funds, announced in September 2022, propelled the project forward. It took over a year-and-a-half for these shovels to signal progress.
"We have consistently seen that the availability of housing does not meet the demand," Executive Director Rae Martin said. "So today we are proud and overjoyed to be here and to be a part of the solution; a part of that supply and demand issue."
She expects the complex to open in spring 2025.
This solution is one drop in a ripple effect that can change lives for the better—forever.
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