10/23/2013
****Please read this post in it's entirety****The following Press Release was sent out yesterday. Although it has not been reported as far as we can tell in the Herald-Leader, at least two of the locations mentioned will be of great interest to residents of Meadowthorpe/Melrose-Oak Park and surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.
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Subject: Press Release re: Listening Session Nov. 4 regarding future home of Community Inn
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A listening session on the future home of the Community Inn will be held 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday, November 4, at Central Christian Church, 205 E. Short Street. Operators of the Community Inn are seeking community input on six potential locations as they move forward with acquiring and renovating a new home for their church and homeless shelter operations.
“We know that there are a lot of people with strong opinions about where we should move,” said Ginny Ramsey, the co-founder of the Catholic Action Center and the Community Inn. “We think that it’s important that we hear from neighborhood representatives, city officials, social service agencies, and local businesses as we decide on our new home. We also think it’s extremely important that we give individuals who are homeless a chance to tell us what their needs are and how we can best help meet those needs.”
Three of the possible sites are ones that have been proposed by Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and have appropriate zoning for use as a homeless shelter: 166 North Martin Luther King Blvd., 1353 West Main Street, and 2526 Regency Road. The other sites under consideration: 1400 North Forbes Rd., 353 Waller Avenue, and 219 East Short Street also are zoned for use as a homeless shelter. The listening session will also include an opportunity for participants to explore the possibility of finding additional funding to support smaller shelters scattered throughout Lexington.
Ramsey said that she believes it is important to engage the community in the selection process before new property is acquired.
The listening session will be an open forum where participants can move around to learn more about each of the potential sites and then offer their feedback as to pros and cons for each location. At the end of the session, small groups will then share their results with the entire group and notes from each small group will be shared publicly.
Pre-registration for the listening session is strongly encouraged. No fee required. To pre-register, send your name and contact information to [email protected] or [email protected].
In June 2012, the Board of Adjustments revoked the conditional use permit for the Community Inn at its current location at 824 Wi******er Road. During the past year, a number of social service groups had been working on a plan that would use the former Lorillard Lofts property to host a variety of services, including attorney offices, medical services, and the Community Inn. Earlier this month, Mayor Jim Gray announced that the city would not support that project.
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David Christiansen
[email protected]
The listening session will be an open forum where participants can move around to learn more about each of the potential sites and then offer their feedback as to pros and cons for each location. At the end of the session, small groups will then share their results with the entire group and notes from each small group will be shared publicly.
Pre-registration for the listening session is strongly encouraged. No fee required. To pre-register, send your name and contact information to [email protected] or [email protected].
