Will Greenberg budget to help thousands homeless in Louisville? Call and ask.
Guitarist, singer, songwriter and advocate for veterans Joe Walsh once remarked, 'A homeless veteran should not have to stand at a freeway exit with a cardboard sign. That's not okay.' He's right. In fact, no one should have to live this way.
As a Catholic priest, I am guided by my faith and its teaching that housing is a human right. In the following statement, the U.S. Catholic bishops refer to Pope St. John Paul II, who wrote, "A house is much more than a roof over one's head." It is "a place where a person creates and lives out his or her life." And then they add, 'The right to housing is a consistent theme in our teaching. … We believe society has the responsibility to protect these rights, and the denial of housing to so many constitutes a terrible injustice.'
The Louisville Coalition for the Homeless (LCH) works daily to correct this injustice and provide housing and support services for veterans and other men, women and children who have nowhere to call home. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, more than 12,000 persons experienced homelessness in our Metro Louisville community in 2024.
Housing providers offer shelter for some, but there is simply not enough space for everyone needing somewhere to call home. But there is an opportunity in the drafting of the next Metro Louisville budget. The mayor and Metro Council members could include funding at a level that makes a difference in the lives of many homeless persons.
Opinion: Owning a home in Kentucky changed my life. I want that for you, too.
We all know that budgets are moral documents in that they reflect the priorities and values of a community and that these priorities have consequences. It is important to ask what priorities will surface as policymakers prepare the 2025-2026 Metro Louisville budget. Will they take into account the needs of homeless persons?
I agree with St. John Paul II who wrote that the church 'has a serious obligation to join with those who are working … to find concrete and urgent solutions to the housing problem and to see that the homeless receive the necessary attention and concern on the part of public authorities.' Don't we all, churchgoing or not, really have an obligation to 'see that the homeless receive the necessary attention?' After all, housing is a human right.
LCH has launched the Safe and Stable: Housing for All campaign which, along with educational activities, includes a specific funding request of the mayor and Metro Council. The Coalition is requesting an additional $5 million be included in the budget to offer the homeless permanent supportive housing.
Opinion | Trump's budget cuts will make housing more expensive in Kentucky
The solution to housing all the homeless may appear overwhelming until we look beyond our own individual efforts to help others and know that as a community, we can have a significant impact on the decisions of those elected to represent us.
Please consider making one short phone call to your Metro Council member at (502) 574-1100. Emphasize the importance of permanent supportive housing in addressing the lack of affordable housing in our community. Urge that, in addition to what is currently proposed, another $5 million be included to provide permanent supportive housing.
Mother Teresa once said, 'We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.' Making just one phone call addresses 'the greatest poverty' by showing our love and care for homeless brothers and sisters in need.
Agree or disagree? Submit a letter to the editor.
Rev. Patrick Delahanty is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville and the former executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville homelessness is injustice Metro Council can right | Opinion
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