Lexington’s Veterans Park was the site for an official announcement Thursday delivered by Mayor Linda Gorton. “Lexington is officially the first city in Kentucky to effectively end veteran homelessness,” announced Gorton.
Three different federal agencies have verified that the Lexington government has created a system and infrastructure to make veteran homelessness, quote, “rare, brief, and non-reoccuring.” Carlisle veteran Gerald Tubbs Junior was homeless for a few months including time camping in the Red River Gorge. “The joy about my apartment now is the last night I slept on the streets, I get to look at it every day. So, I see where I came from cause I slept out right beside the building the night before,” said Tubbs.
In addition to increased federal funding, Lexington Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention director Polly Ruddick said going from silos to networking assistance has played a big role in ending veteran homelessness. She said she got a call Thursday morning about a homeless vet. “I was able to say, oh hold on a minute, and I picked up the phone and said, ‘ok, so he doesn’t qualify for this, but he qualifies for that. I called that provider. I said what time can you see him today. She’s like ‘bring him by the office at 1:00.’ So I had the street outreach team from the Hope Center taking my client over to the VOA at 1:00 today so we can start working to re-house him,” explained Ruddick.
Beverly Ebersold with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness said a number of states have earned the zero homeless veteran designation. She said it occurs community by community through political will and a connection with state and federal governments.?
Weku's Stu Johnson spoke with Lexington director of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Polly Ruddick following the formal ceremony:
