LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Notices to clear homeless camps in Louisville can very substantially from location to location.
According to the city's Homeless Services Division, that timeframe can range anywhere from a day to three weeks.
In the case of the encampment underneath the I-264 overpass near Durrett Lane, people there got 24 hours to relocate on Monday, but with leeway.
"And then our sign says after 72 hours that that time has passed, we will do a cleaning," said Jon Pilbean, assistant director of the Office of Resilience and Community Services.
Pilbean, who in his role also oversees the Homeless Services Division, tells WHAS11 the risk in this area was too high to allow the camp to remain, saying it's about "the proximity to traffic."
"Within the past year, we've had several folks in encampments pass away," he said. "What we're trying to do in the meantime is get those individuals outreach help. Our outreach teams are out there. [They] are always willing to transport someone to a shelter."
Pilbean says a risk assessment of the camp's location came back as a 3 -- the highest -- recommending the clearing.
In a May 3 letter sent from Homeless Services to outreach teams, Pilbean wrote, "individuals at the encampments will be notified of an anticipated relocation date: On or about Monday, May 13, 2024."
As advocates for the unhoused told WHAS11 News, there remains a major issue: Where are these people supposed to go?
Pony Morris with advocacy group VOCAL-Kentucky continues to sound the alarm, saying there's not enough shelter space for Louisville's growing houseless population. And he says many of the existing shelters aren't up to par.
"It's a cycle with no end," Morris said. "They want to disrupt, break up, and leave it to where they're going to push them to your backyard, her backyard -- they're going to push them right outside of our door. Why aren't we housing?"
On that point, we've learned new details about the Community Care Campus, one of Mayor Craig Greenberg's big initiatives to help the homeless population.
Volunteers of America Mid-States, which will manage the campus, tells WHAS11 News they plan to begin construction on the family shelter portion of the project by late summer 2024.
"It's more than just a place to rest and a place to get fed, it's a place to really do the meaningful work of establishing self-sufficiency," Jennifer Hancock, VOA Mid-States president and CEO, said.
Hancock said the goal is to begin providing emergency housing services by the end of 2024. The plan is to renovate the old Vu Hotel, just east of downtown Louisville, for this shelter.
The city has secured $22 million in state funding from lawmakers in Frankfort for the Community Care Campus. Hancock said they'll need another $15 million for project's completion, and they're asking for the community's help.
If you'd like to donate to their efforts, click here.
VOCAL-Kentucky is encouraging everyone to sign up for RAVE alerts, which will send important information like emergency shelter bed access and availability to your phone or email.
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