Lexington is creating a task force to figure out how to create more permanent shelter for the city’s rising homeless population.
The city reports that population has risen 34% over the past five years. Its most recent count includes more than 900 people.
Charlie Lanter is Lexington’s Commissioner of Housing Advocacy and Community Development. He says they’ve mostly seen an uptick in families without shelter in the years since COVID.
“It's due to the housing market having become significantly less affordable than it was prior to the pandemic, and so a lot of families are just struggling,” he said.
The task force will be making recommendations on how to implement a “low-barrier” shelter based on a study commissioned by the city.
It would be for people who have been barred from other city shelters because of past crimes or behavioral issues, or who are suffering from substance use disorder.
They’ll be making decisions on how to implement that based on location, access to public transit and support services.
Lanter says shelter is a growing need for the city.
“We essentially have a shortage of about 500 beds of homeless shelter housing, and in another five to 10 years, we're going to need even double that, over 1,000 additional beds,” Lanter said.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said the city relies on temporary solutions to shelter its homeless population during the winter, and that more permanent shelters would be less expensive.
The task force is expected to meet regularly starting this fall.
