Homeless & Housing Coalition of Kentucky helping clients during COVID-19 outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to thousands of Kentuckians filing for unemployment.

For the people at the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, it means more people who will need help, even after the pandemic is over.

The coalition works to help those who are homeless and to keep people from becoming homeless in the first place.

Their director of development and grants management tells WKYT they are currently housing 122 families or people.

Since the pandemic started they’ve been working with homeless people to try to get them motel rooms where they could social distance for two weeks, before entering shelters.

They’ve also been working with their clients who didn’t file taxes to complete the online form to receive their stimulus checks.

A national grant has allowed them to assist other Kentucky nonprofits to provide housing. Right now, they’re working on building an eviction prevention fund. They say they are grateful for Governor Andy Beshear’s order temporarily halting evictions, but they know that once it’s over there will be a lot of people who owe rent they can’t pay.

“We know that that we’re not in a sprint, we are in a marathon,” says Whitney Reynolds with the coalition. “This problem is going to last for a long time because folks are going to have bills that continue to pile up.”

That national grant has also allowed them to secure $20,000 worth of motel vouchers for homeless individuals and families.

To help raise funds,