Emergency Winter Weather Plan enacted in Lexington as temperatures drop

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — As temperatures drop, those at the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention are working to ensure those experiencing homelessness have shelter during extreme weather.

The Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention in Lexington has enacted its Emergency Winter Weather Plan. They do this to ensure that all people experiencing homelessness have shelter as the temperature drops.

“It allows for us to have some expanded capacity within our shelter system to accommodate folks who might not otherwise seek shelter when we have warmer temperatures,” said Homelessness Prevention Manager Jeff Herron.

They activate this plan when temperatures fall below freezing to provide shelter to all those experiencing homelessness.

By using congregate shelters, relaxing restrictions on people previously suspended from shelters and using overflow beds, this plan helps provide shelter to those in need.

“In addition to that, this year we have a season-long temporary shelter that’s operated by the Hope Center. It’s gonna be located on the campus of the Northside YMCA at 381 West Loudon Avenue,” he added.

Herron says they looked at the baseline numbers for those experiencing homelessness this year to be able to provide the resources necessary.

“We also looked at data from last winter to really understand what our shelter capacity is and what the gap would be, and so this year our plan was based around making sure that we could cover that gap and have a little bit of cushion,” said Herron.

While the Emergency Winter Weather Plan is set to end Thursday, Herron said they often extend days when needed.

For more information, you can head here: Lex End Homelessness