Read more here: More than shelter, campus to provide ‘wrap around’ care to a growing population in Louisville | News From The States
"LOUISVILLE — Construction has begun on Louisville’s Community Care Campus, a multi-building site in the Smoketown area aimed at providing housing, medical and other services to unhoused people in Kentucky’s largest city.
The campus, funded in part by the General Assembly, is now slated to open in 2027, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Tuesday. Demolition of several existing structures on the campus grounds will begin next week.
Greenberg was joined on the future grounds by Jennifer Hancock, the president and CEO of Volunteers of America, which is planning and will operate the campus.
“Every day, we see how homelessness has increased on our city streets, and the need for more housing services has become even more urgent,” Hancock said. “My colleagues and I are ready and eager to address this challenge — and opportunity — for our city head on.”
House Republican Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, and Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, also spoke."
How is the campus funded?
The $58 million campus will include shelter for unhoused families, a health clinic, transitional housing for young adults, food services and an office for Louisville Metro Police.
The campus will also include a playground, activity courtyard and family lawn, according to 2024 floor plans.
Of the $58 million price projection, $23 million was appropriated by the General Assembly and Louisville Metro Government. Another $19 million came from low income housing tax credits. VOA raised an additional $1 million, and says it will announce a major investment next week, which will go toward the remaining $16 million needed to finish the project.
During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers approved a two-year budget, which included $100 million for projects in Louisville, including the Community Care Campus.
Hancock said the police office on the campus is “not built on a premise of enforcement.”
“If that has to happen, of course, we need them to do their jobs,” she said. “But there is so much upside to having them be part of the community that we are going to create.”
Greenberg said having a police presence in the campus will be a chance for police to “develop stronger relationships with nonprofit partners” and “build relationships with individuals themselves to show that we are policing in a new way in this city.”
In August, the Department of Justice said Louisvillians needed better access to community based services to end a cycle of over-policing as a solution to mental health crises.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the Community Care Campus is “a response to the DOJ report, but it is not in response to the DOJ report.”"
Renderings of the Community Care Campus under construction in Louisville's Smoketown neighborhood. (Volunteers of America) - Source: More than shelter, campus to provide ‘wrap around’ care to a growing population in Louisville | News From The States
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