WE are saying goodbye to 2020, a most difficult year, our eyes turn to the future with hope as we seem to have tools to beat down this invader. At the Mission, after Thanksgiving we experienced a surge in positive COVID cases, requiring us to open an isolation dorm for men and women, and isolation rooms for families who are positive for the virus. We have worked closely with the Jefferson County Health Department to provide as much protection as possible to keep the virus from spreading. The shelter, located at 432 East Jefferson Street, has a very crowded population with many shared facilities and a diversity of programs which include: emergency shelter for men, women and children, a low barrier shelter, a family program, permanent supportive housing for women and men, a veterans program, a recovery program for men, affordable low income housing units, and a work therapy program. In addition, the mission serves about 2000 meals per day at the shelter and at several mobile feeding locations. We recently tested our population and discovered a 14% positive rate; the State of Kentucky at that time had a positive rate of 11%.
The Hotel Louisville Campus, located at 120 West Broadway, had a positive rate of ZERO percent. The hotel has a much more stable residential population, including a women’s recovery program, women’s permanent supportive housing and long term recovery housing for men and women who are working jobs in the community. The hotel is also not as crowded as the shelter, and beds and rooms are spaced out in healthier distances.
With your help and assistance, we have been struggling through this most difficult period, ashave most of you. Thank you so very much for your support and we pray that this new year will be brighter and healthier for us all.