The Campbell County Fiscal Court read a proclamation Wednesday, declaring Nov. 11-18 National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
“The purpose of the proclamation is to educate the public about the many reasons people are hungry and homeless, including the shortage of affordable housing for very low-income residents,” Campbell County Judge/Executive Steve Pendery read from the proclamation.
Pendery said the awareness week is also to encourage support for homeless assistance service providers, as well as community service opportunities for students and school service organizations.
The proclamation recognized organizations committed to sheltering and providing supportive services, meals and food supplies to people experiencing homelessness, including Welcome House and the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky. Executive Director Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky Kim Webb spoke at the meeting on behalf of nonprofits serving in that capacity.
Based in Covington, the emergency shelter is an immediate entrance cold-weather shelter for adults. Webb said she was addressing the court on a “momentous day”— the shelter’s 15th anniversary.
“As much as we don’t like celebrating 15, it is certainly something that the need continues to grow for immediate entrance,” Webb said.
She said last year, the shelter saw nearly 1,500 unique individuals. Of those, 1,004 individuals accessed the shelter year-round from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.
“Homelessness is a housing and income-based wage-based housing issue,” Webb said. “That’s what solves this. What ends homelessness and hunger is housing that is affordable based on wages.”
Webb said the recent study on housing needs and workforce by the Northern Kentucky Area Development District, with the eight Northern Kentucky counties, “moves the needle” on the ability for people to attain housing and find it where their jobs are.
The study was recently discussed at a Campbell County mayor’s meeting, where Pendery said the data was “very clear that we have to have more units of housing, mainly low-end, in the rental market if we’re going to have places for folks to live to populate our industries.”
During the meeting, Campbell County Commissioner Geoff Besecker asked Webb how the number of 1,500 unique individuals has changed over the past five years. She said it was a bit like comparing apples to oranges because the shelter moved into a more extensive facility with more services in February 2022.
“What has stayed the same is the fact that a large majority of folks spent less than 14 nights,” Webb said. “There is a realization that you know we are a bridge, and many folks will not qualify for services. Many folks just need a place for the basic necessities of a bed that’s immediate and low barrier.”
