Latest news with #VOCAL-KY
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We can't arrest our way out of homelessness
(Photo: Ronda Churchill/Nevada Current) Punishing people for being poor doesn't make them less poor. And jailing someone who's homeless doesn't make them housed. But that's exactly what President Trump's new executive order does: it makes criminals out of people trying to survive our nation's housing crisis. Only affordable housing and accessible healthcare will get people off the streets so they can live a stable life. Instead, Trump's order calls for local and state governments to ticket and arrest people for living on our streets. These policies waste taxpayer dollars just to make our homelessness crisis worse. If you need a preview of how Trump's disastrous order will play out, just look at my home state of Kentucky. In April 2024, the Kentucky legislature passed HB 5 — the bill that paved the way for Kentucky to ticket and arrest people trying to survive outside. These laws, labeled 'camping bans,' are popping up across the country. They're rooted in the myth that people choose to be homeless — and the only way to help is through jail or involuntary commitment. Not only is this cruel and inhumane. It also doesn't work. In Louisville earlier this year, a pregnant woman in active labor was ticketed by police because she had no choice but to sleep outside. Law enforcement did not offer her help, Fortunately, she was able to deliver a healthy baby. But she's still housing insecure — and now burdened with a citation too. Her story proves that making criminals out of people who have nowhere to go doesn't reduce suffering — it makes it worse. So it's not surprising that even with this new law in place, there was still an over 10 percent rise in homelessness in Kentucky just last year. Similarly, national rates continue to increase even as more cities and states pass 'camping bans.' I'm the director at VOCAL-KY, a movement of low-income people. I've gotten to know the folks living in Louisville's shelters and on the streets. It's not hard for me to relate. When I lost my housing, my family and I lived out of my car until we could get back on our feet. We work day in and day out to support our neighbors who live outside by providing a safe space and connection to services. And the pregnant woman, Samantha, who was cited while in active labor, is now a part of our drop-in center community. This is what compassion looks like — not citations that put struggling people further in debt or behind bars. People living on our streets and in our shelters want services and housing, but there isn't enough to go around. With this executive order, the Trump administration is diverting even more money toward arresting and jailing people — and away from the housing and care that urban, rural, and suburban America all need. Instead of distractions and dictatorial decrees rooted in stereotypes and stigma, we need real leadership on real solutions to homelessness, like higher wages and rents people can afford. The reality is most Americans are closer to becoming homeless than becoming billionaires. But instead of investing in solutions, Trump and the GOP gave massive tax breaks to the ultra rich — including to some of the same people and companies who make billions off driving up rents — while cutting programs for low-income people. In all likelihood, next year we'll see another record number of Americans in homelessness. We need federal lawmakers to sign onto the Housing, Not Handcuffs Act and invest in communities by directing federal funds to support local solutions that address the root causes of homelessness, not just force people into jail or detention centers dressed up as treatment. Trump's plan to arrest our way out of homelessness won't work, because it's never worked. Only housing, care, and services will help people get back on their feet, and we need our policies and politicians to act on those solutions now more than ever.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
How a Louisville couple who lived on the streets are making a difference for the unhoused
At VOCAL-Kentucky's drop-in center, Homeless and Civil Rights Organizer Ronnie "Pony" Morris stood pointing at the surrounding neighborhood, where many of Louisville's unhoused population stay with access to city services. "I lived underneath every one of these viaducts right here," he said. The formerly unhoused Louisvillian and his partner, Brittany Morris, who works as the nonprofit's hospitality and operations associate and manages drop-in center operations, enjoyed the full circle moment. VOCAL-KY typically sees around 80-100 unhoused people at the drop-in center in the 700 block of South Brook Street in the four hours when its doors are open, three days a week, with varying community resources like housing assessments, voting registration assistance and rehabilitation resources available. Read more: Under one overpass, 8 years of giving and growth for Louisville's homeless population On a housing voucher since 2021, the couple has faced several struggles while living on Louisville's streets, including being shot at, having their tents burned and being caught in camp clearings. Not being able to find food or having belongings stolen was also a constant concern, Brittany said. "Whenever I ended up living in a tent, I was determined to do anything to change my situation," she said. "The obstacles that came my way ... when people think that people can just change their situation easily, they are wrong about that." The couple also says being unhoused now is "a completely different ball game" amid the issuing of "unlawful camping" citations under the Safer Kentucky Act, and working with people in similar situations means a lot to them. "There is a difference between 2021 homeless and 2025 homeless," Ronnie said. Being on the streets has presented other hardships for the pair, including struggles with drug addiction prior to the birth of their daughter. "We weren't ready to be sober. I'd been to treatment center after treatment center after treatment center and then as soon as I got out I was getting high," Brittany said. "People think it's a choice you can control but it's really not." Both have been convicted on felony drug charges and Ronnie still has an active case from 2018, but the pair are now on the road to recovery and use their story to try and inspire others to start on a path toward a better life. In the future, Ronnie hopes to start an organization called "From Streets To Change Housing," which would focus on a three-step process of transitioning people from the streets to shelter. He plans to utilize existing structures, like parking garages, to create an outdoor space where unhoused people can stay and learn skills before moving into more stable housing. Both Ronnie and Brittany look forward to continuing their advocacy work together in the future. "I'm glad that he's doing something he loves and I'm glad I get to do something I love," Brittany said. "It means a lot to me because I get to help people that are going through what I've been through, and also I think it means a lot to them for us to be people that have gone through what they're going through, so we actually understand." This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville VOCAL-KY executives when from unhoused to helping community
