LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s low-barrier shelter posted a new, longer list of rules on Monday after staff says some of the additional resources they were depending on did not “materialize.”
The shelter, housed at Wayside Christian Mission, was funded by Metro Council in January under the condition that it would operate with fewer rules.
Initially, the shelter only had three rules including “no fighting, no weapons, and no drugs.
But the new rule list is much longer. Shelter staff said, "we are making some adjustments to improve the cleanliness and safety of the facility."
It includes stricter policies on pets and possessions.
Nina Mosely with Wayside said, “We were allowing people to come in with their pets. We are still doing this, but we are now asking people to place their pets in their kennels for sleeping. Some of the guests have been allowing their pets to sleep in their beds with them, but when the owner goes to sleep, the pets roam around and jump on other clients' beds, causing problems.”
Some of the other changes include restricting the time people can sleep in beds to only at night, and there will be a check in every afternoon for new bed assignments.
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Additionally, people barred from Wayside because of violence may not be allowed in.
Mosely said, "This is because some of the past violent clients we have allowed in have caused unsafe problems again. Folks who were barred for non-violent reasons are still welcomed right in."
"You're getting funding for low barrier and you're not running a low-barrier shelter”, Fed with Faith’s Wendy Manganaro said.
Manganaro said she found out about the new rules minutes after they were posted at the shelter. She had clients call her with concerns.
"Little changes like this really end up making a big difference in the scheme of things”, she said.
She worries that more people will start to sleep outside because they won’t want to comply with the new policy.
"My question was how are they going to continue to call this a low-barrier shelter when now they're making the rules just as strict as any other shelter”, Helen Bradford said.
Helen and her dog stayed in the shelter but are now looking for a tent to move back out on the streets.
Bradford said, "It’s frustrating when you're trying everything you can to do the right thing and you keep hitting the roadblocks."
Bradford’s friend Chris plans to leave the shelter too.
"It's heartbreaking, it's soul-crushing, it’s a big blow”, Christopher Grammer said.
"The fact of the matter is that these are people who don't know where to go or what to do”, Manganaro said.
She said clients are already asking for new tents and outside gear to start sleeping on the streets again.
"We've literally gone 100 steps backwards," Manganaro said.
Nina Mosely said she expects the new homeless storage lockers, that are expected to open in the coming weeks, will help with the concern. Those lockers will provide a safe space for people to store personal belongings during the day. They are no longer allowed to leave items within Wayside.
►Contact reporter Shay McAlister at smcalister@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Shay) and Facebook.
Editor's Note: WHAS11 originally reported that Wayside’s low-barrier shelter was no longer open 24-7 because of new rules. However, Wayside clarified that the community room and dining hall at the shelter will remain open during the day.
