The Boon County Fiscal Court received an update on the Northern Kentucky winter housing emergency cold shelter.
Welcome House CEO Danielle Amrine said that the shelter was open 76 nights in the past winter, assisting 68 individuals from babies to senior citizens.
“It was colder than it has been, snowier, and more ice,” Amrine said. “We know, without a doubt, that the actions of this court saved lives this winter.”
The River City News profiled the winter shelter in March.
The average of a person assisted by the shelter in the winter was 45, Amrine said. However, she noted that the life expectancy for chronically homeless people is just 50, far lower than that of the average American.
This year, the shelter was open from December 23 through February 23.
The Welcome House reached out to people living on the street and also found 15 living in their vehicles, including a couple aged 72 and 63. The man in that relationship was suffering from diabetes and dementia, and was not properly medicating, Amrine said. The woman was also dealing with health problems.
Amrine said that the couple was able to be placed at an assisted living facility where they are now doing well and taking their medications.
Amrine said that she believed strongly that had the couple been left to live in their car over the winter, there would have been a chance that they would have died.
Two high school seniors, one living in a vehicle and another in a laundromat, were also assisted, Amrine said. The shelter was able to assist the high school students by placing them in housing.
Three of the shelter’s clients went into drug rehab, two went to Louisville to live with family, eight were moved to permanent housing, and 31 exited to positive housing situations, Amrine said.
Only one person tested for COVID-19 returned a positive test.
Five were asked to leave, because of unruly behavior.
Twenty-five of the clients were found in Florence, Amrine said, thanking local churches and the Mary Rose Mission, which helped in the winter efforts providing meals every night.
“We consider this winter a success,” she said.
-Patricia A. Scheyer, RCN contributor