LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One of the four new homeless shelter options provided by Metro Louisville is now on hold after unexpected codes and regulations violations. St. Stephen Baptist Church opened its doors to families on Tuesday, the deadline provided by Metro Council to get the shelter up and running. But within hours the shelter was shut down after a fire marshal and inspector ruled the property unfit for residential use.
Metro Council allocated $97,500 of the nearly $550,00 to St. Stephen to provide shelter and resources to families. The church proposed they would house six families 24/7 while providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also partnered with the Coalition for the Homeless to provide rapid re-housing and case management resources.
The church created the shelter space within its Young Performing Arts Center, nearby the main church facilities. The building is a former chapel that was shuttered for many years before church represents completed cosmetic updates.
The chapel space was renovated and permitted for use as a conference space but because of the change of use, a new permit is required.
Now, Homeless Task Force members are working on securing a space for “emergency shelter” for these families. They are also meeting with experts next week to discuss how to update the facility or use a different St. Stephens property to shelter the families.
The other three shelter options include a low barrier shelter at Wayside Christian Mission, a men’s shelter at the Healing Place and family shelter placement options through Volunteers of America. Metro Council has funded the shelters through June of 2019.
The next big project for the homeless task force is a storage facility for personal belongings.
The Downtown Louisville Partnership has donated shipping containers to Metro Council to provide a space for personal storage. Currently, the task force is looking to move the shipping containers to the parking lot at the former First Link Pharmacy on Liberty. TARC has donated lockers to be used in the shipping containers to secure personal belongings.
The storage facility is expected to open early next month.
