HOTEL INC discusses Bowling Green housing and homelessness data

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In the latest survey, the number of unsheltered homeless individuals in Bowling Green and Warren County increased 16% over the previous year, while the population only grew at 4%.

These numbers were the start of a conversation at HOTEL INC on Friday morning.

The nonprofit has an open house event the first Friday of every month where the community can come in and see their work first-hand, and today, they addressed the housing shortage and homelessness here.

Kentucky has seen increases in the homeless everywhere, from the biggest cities to the most rural counties.

Karen Foley, executive director of HOTEL INC, says, “The more that we can talk about solutions, the more that we can have hard conversations about what we’re seeing, then hopefully the better prepared our community is to think about this as both the housing side and the homelessness side, as it’s not just an individual issue. It is a community-wide concern. And it requires community efforts, not just the efforts of individuals who are, in many cases, already in a vulnerable position.”

Resources are limited for this complex problem, according to Foley, and groups within the community must join forces in order to address it.

While the prime issues are food, water and shelter, Foley says those are probably the easiest to provide, but it is also critical that the homeless be in relationships with other people.

Human contact, trust and community are as important for them as individuals as they are for the rest of us.

That may be the hardest to provide though, but it is HOTEL INC’s goal.