HUD Kentucky Helping Homeless Neighbors

HUD Kentucky Office voluntary donations for the homeless in Louisville.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HUD Kentucky Field Office turned the standard "clothing drive" into a mission-oriented pun to help partners in need. Participating HUD staff put voluntary donations in a large disposable bags to be left on their porch or at the end of their driveway. The Field Office Director then drove to each house, picking up the donations to be delivered to waiting shelters around the city.

HUD Kentucky staff from the Offices of Community Planning and Development, Public and Indian Housing, Field Policy and Management, and the Office of Housing Counseling pitched in over 300 hundred pounds of clothes and shoes for men, women, and children to be donated to Homeless Service providers around Louisville, Kentucky.

"During these unprecedented times of dealing with COVID-19, it is heartwarming to know that our Field Office Director Peter Jackson and our entire Kentucky team are still carrying out HUD's mission to serve our homeless community," said Denise Cleveland-Leggett, Southeast Regional Administrator. "It is critical during this time of severe need that we push forward so that the people that we serve hold onto hope and know that they can still dwell in possibilities."

"Whether it is providing program assistance, working through federal partnerships, or discussing new ideas with Agency partners, we are always looking to implement the Secretary's mission in an impactful way for HUD's local stakeholders," said Peter Jackson, Field Office Director for HUD Kentucky. "When a need was identified that we were able to assist with, it became our duty to use the tools we had available to find a way to make it happen."

"It is particularly noteworthy that during the COVID-19 pandemic under the leadership of Peter Jackson, the Kentucky Field Office Director and staff that they selflessly rose to the occasion to find a way to make a difference in the lives of those we serve who are particularly vulnerable," said Michael Browder, Region IV Deputy Regional Administrator. "These notable actions are typical of the continuing commitment HUD has to assisting those in need during these challenging times."

The idea originated from a weekly call that HUD Kentucky Field Policy and Management Staff attend to discuss how Continuum of Care (CoC) partners, homeless service providers, and homeless populations are being impacted by the COVID-19 situation. It was on this call where homeless service partners expressed a need for clothes to replace those that were being destroyed for sheltered populations possibly exposed to the virus.

Shelters who received the donations were the Salvation Army Day Shelter (www.salvationarmylouisville.org/), The St. John's Center for Homeless Men (www.stjohncenter.org/), and UP for Women and Children (www.uplouisville.org/).

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