Council to Fund Study of Homeless Shelter Needs

In February 13th’s General Government and Planning (GGP) Committee, Councilmembers heard a presentation from Commissioner of Housing Advocacy and Community Development on the upcoming Request for Proposals (RFP) to study and assess Lexington’s needs for new homeless shelters.

In October, Council allocated $200,000 from Fund Balance money to hire a consultant to perform a feasibility study to examine what shelter needs existed in the community, with the likely goal of the City funding the creation of a new shelter. The study will examine what kind of shelter is needed, where it could be, how much it would cost to operate, and recommend opportunities for addressing underserved groups in the homeless population.

Commissioner Lanter said that the Request for Proposals (RFP), which will invite consultants to apply and be selected to conduct the study, was ready to go out and needed no action from Council. Lanter said that his office planned for the results to be in by May 2025, although he hopes they will be in much sooner. However, one component of the study will include recommending specific properties in Lexington for the shelter to be located, and site selection is a very long and complicated process that warrants planning for a longer timeline.

The RFP was posted last Thursday - you can download it here.

No action was taken on this item. You can watch the meeting’s recording on LexTV.