Louisville has opened a new family emergency shelter, marking a milestone in the city’s efforts to address homelessness. The Community Care Campus in Smoketown celebrated the opening of its family emergency shelter, which is the first completed phase of the facility after three years of planning and millions of dollars invested.

A Place to Call Home

The Cox family, who recently experienced homelessness, shared their gratitude for the shelter. ‘We went from having our own place and everything and ended up homeless, and this is giving me a stepping stone to be able to do and figure things back out,’ said Mickey Cox, who is living at the shelter with his wife Bethany and their one-year-old son Jeremiah.

The shelter offers more than just a place to sleep and eat, providing childcare, healthcare, recovery services, transportation, and workforce re-entry support as part of a coordinated system of care aimed at fostering lasting stability. Nearly 30 unhoused Louisville families, including the Cox family, now call the shelter home.

A Loss for the Community

Meanwhile, the Arthur Street Hotel, which has been a refuge for unhoused residents in Louisville, will cease operations due to lack of funding. The hotel’s director, Tiny Herron, expressed her devastation at the closure, saying, ‘We have been a beacon of light in this area for a lot of people.’ Herron emphasized the need for diverse solutions to address the homelessness crisis in Louisville.

Transitional housing and a medical respite facility are planned for next year as part of the community care campus, with the full project expected to finish by 2028.

Original reporting: WLKY Louisville — read the source article.