One of Lexington’s organizations working to help the homeless will be offering new transitional housing in 2025. Members of a City Council committee got an update last week.
The Hope Homeless Center is expected to open the 72-bed addition in February. 24 of those beds will be set aside for homeless veterans. Hope Center CEO Jeff Crook said the $7 million project seeks to meet the need of moving from the streets to a shelter, to an apartment, or a house.
“There’s a major gap in terms of what’s needed for the class we work with at the emergency shelter to get them prepared to move into permanent housing and be stable enough to remain in permanent housing,” said Crook.
Federal rescue dollars helped cover the cost of the project. Those ARPA funds could not be used to expand emergency shelter capacity. Housing Advocacy Commissioner Charlie Lanter said by moving some people into transitional housing, that will free up emergency shelter beds. That sentiment was echoed by David Shadd, director of programs at the Hope Center.