Louisville Houses 112 Homeless Youth Through 100-Day Challenge

Mark Pence, 24, former homeless youth at age 12 and now homeless advocate, talks about the importance of peer support at the announcement.

Louisville Coalition for the Homeless gathered a room full of supporters recently to announce that the 100-day challenge to house 100 youth had ended in success! At least 112 youth had been housed through these concentrated efforts since the August 1 kickoff of the Challenge (http://louhomeless.org/louisville-one-of-five-communities-accelerating-youth-homelessness-efforts/).

"It's always good to have the youth involved because we can relate to one another," said Mark Pence, 24, who was helped through homeless services at 12 and who is now a homeless advocate.

"I had no doubt that Louisville would achieve this goal," said HUD Kentucky Field Office Director Michael Browder. "Reaching out to help one another is what makes Louisville Metro a caring and compassionate community. I applaud the leadership of both Mayor Greg Fischer and Natalie Harris, Executive Director of the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless."

Louisville was one of five communities selected to participate in the 100-Day Challenge by Rapid Results Institute and funding for the challenge came from HUD and other private philanthropic sources.

###