Advocates for both tenants and the homeless community in Madison County say they’re in the middle of a housing and eviction crisis.
Groups like the Madison County Tenants Union, the NAACP and local shelters have organized multiple marches in Berea and Richmond since last December. They say it’s to call attention to both the local homeless community and a rising number of evictions in the county.
Patrick Messer is the pastor at Richmond’s First Christian Church and was out supporting a Martin Luther King Day march in downtown Richmond. He says his church gets calls every day from people facing housing issues.
“We have people working in the office just to field these calls that are happening all the time,” Messer said. “They’re either trying to get a deposit to get into a place, or they’ve had a housing voucher, but there’s no one to take them.”
Across the street from First Christian is the nonprofit Madison Home, which works with local churches to help solve these issues. The nonprofit helps those in need find housing arrangements, employment and essentials like food and clothing.