Louisville Outreach for the Unsheltered

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Louisville Outreach for the Unsheltered

We exist to provide essential resources and advocacy to those experiencing homelessness.

Sack Lunch Donation Sign-up:
https://m.signupgenius.com/ #!/showSignUp/10c094dadaa22a1ff2-sack5

08/13/2026

We’re so thankful for everyone who continues to donate and help us get needed supplies directly into the hands of our unsheltered neighbors. Right now, you can find our most-needed items on our Amazon Wishlist here: https://a.co/08LBt6Se

When shopping the list, please don’t worry too much about the brand. The type, size, and style requested is what matters most. We’re also in need of small women’s T-shirts and men’s sneakers in sizes 10–11. Those can be new or used, as long as they’re clean and in good condition. For everything else, we’re currently at capacity and don’t have the space to accept additional items right now. We truly appreciate everyone thinking of us, donating what we can use, and continuing to support the people we serve. Thank you for always showing up for our neighbors! 💙

Donations can be dropped off to us on Sundays between 1:30 and 3:30 at 4100 Shelbyville Road. We set up on the east side of Beargrass Christian Church. Additionally, drop off arrangements at our resource center at 1801 Portland Ave can be arranged by emailing [email protected]

07/28/2026

What an incredible day of service!

A heartfelt thank you to the Feld Family for bringing together 40 volunteers, including 23 young people, to turn compassion into action. Together, they supported not only Louisville Outreach for the Unsheltered, but several other outstanding organizations working to strengthen our community.

For LOU, volunteers prepared 1,800 individual packs of baby wipes and 75 pounds of bagged dog and cat food, two resources that make a real difference for the participants we serve.

What makes days like this so meaningful isn’t just what gets accomplished. It’s the opportunity to learn. When people take the time to understand the realities of homelessness and then choose to act with compassion, they become part of the solution.

To everyone who volunteered, donated, organized, and served: thank you for investing your time, your hearts, and your hope into making Louisville a more compassionate community. We are honored to have been part of such an inspiring day. ❤️
Nicole Roney Feld

07/07/2026

🚨Update🚨 See the good news in the photos!!

One week/Make it make sense

After months of working alongside multiple service providers, Troy is finally just one week away from moving into permanent supportive housing.

Yesterday, he came to our Resource Center so we could provide an Uber to an appointment with his housing provider to sign his lease. Because of physical limitations, he couldn’t carry everything he owned with him. The only belongings safely stored were his medication and a few personal effects in his medication locker at our center.

When he returned, nearly everything else he owned was gone.

His clothing. Some vital documents. Clothing he had purchased for himself and never had a chance to wear. Personal belongings accumulated over months. Gone.

This isn’t about whether anyone knew his story. Most people don’t. That’s the point.

Every person living outside has a story we can’t see. Many are actively working with outreach teams, housing providers, healthcare professionals, and case managers to move toward stability. Progress doesn’t always look obvious from the outside.

Troy is still moving forward. So are we.

But when someone can lose everything they own in a single afternoon while taking the very steps needed to secure housing, we should all ask ourselves whether we’re making the path to stability easier or harder.

06/30/2026

An air temperature of 95° is dangerous.

A heat index of 105° to 115° is life-threatening.

That’s what Louisville is facing through Thursday under an Extreme Heat Warning.

The heat index combines air temperature and humidity to measure how hot it actually feels to the human body. As humidity rises, sweat can no longer evaporate effectively, which means your body’s natural cooling system begins to fail. Your core temperature climbs, dehydration accelerates, and heat exhaustion can rapidly become heat stroke, a medical emergency that can cause organ failure or death.

Now imagine living through that with nowhere to escape.

No air conditioning. No cold shower. No reliable access to water. Sidewalks, parking lots, and buildings radiate heat well into the evening, offering little relief even after the sun goes down. Many of our unsheltered neighbors spend hours walking while carrying everything they own because there is nowhere safe to leave their belongings. Others take medications or live with chronic medical conditions that make extreme heat even more dangerous.

This isn’t just uncomfortable.

It is a matter of survival.

If you see someone outdoors who appears confused, disoriented, unusually weak, has stopped sweating despite the heat, or is difficult to wake, don’t assume they’re simply sleeping or under the influence. Those are warning signs of a heat-related medical emergency. Call 911 immediately.

And if you’re able, offer a bottle of cold water, help someone find shade, or simply ask, “Are you okay?”

Sometimes compassion is measured in moments.

Sometimes, it saves a life.

06/21/2026

Most people see a shopping cart.

We see a woman carrying everything she owns.

Day after day, she sits at a bus stop in the heat with a cart full of books, reading to pass the seemingly endless hours. Not bothering anyone. Not causing problems. Just trying to exist without being harassed, threatened, or told she does not belong.

What many people do not see are the comments, the threats, and the constant message that she is not welcome anywhere.

Homelessness is not just the absence of housing. It is the daily exhaustion of having to defend your right to exist in public.

Everyone deserves safety. Everyone deserves dignity. Everyone deserves a place to call home.

At Louisville Outreach for the Unsheltered, we meet people where they are, listen to their stories, and work to ensure our neighbors experiencing homelessness are seen as human beings, not obstacles.

Because no one should have to spend their day wondering where they are allowed to exist.

06/17/2026

This is now a daily necessity. No women’s shelter beds available before the beds hotline even OPENS!
We have to do better as a community. Those of us on the ground every day see the tidal wave coming. It is not enough to try and react anymore. We need to act!
More shelter, more housing, more compassion!
Let’s advocate to get upstream of this crisis instead of sound bites and empty promises. Call your council person and advocate for more funding, not cuts!

06/02/2026

🥵The needs have not diminished with the warmer weather. They have simply changed.🥵

Right now, we are especially in need of:

* Men’s and women’s shorts in all sizes, especially small, medium, and large

* Men’s and women’s sweatpants, especially medium through large

* T-shirts, especially medium through extra large

We are experiencing an extraordinary shortage of T-shirts right now, and these items go out quickly as we serve our unhoused neighbors through the summer months.

If it's easier to order from our Amazon Wishlist, here's the updated list: https://a.co/08LBt6Se

Donations can be dropped of to us on Sundays at Beargrass Christian Church between 1:30 and 3:30. We are on the east side of the building.

05/29/2026

Homelessness is not inevitable. It is the result of policy choices — and so are the solutions.

For years, advocates, outreach workers, service providers, and directly impacted community members have been clear about what Louisville needs: a fully funded housing continuum that includes prevention, outreach, emergency shelter, supportive services, and permanent affordable housing.

That’s why funding the campaign matters.

When people are forced to survive outside, the consequences are devastating — increased violence, worsening health conditions, family separation, criminalization, and preventable deaths. We cannot continue responding to homelessness only through emergency systems while underfunding the long-term solutions that actually work.

Don't believe the false narratives that are flooding our social media accounts these days. Housing is infrastructure. Shelter saves lives. Outreach matters. Permanent supportive housing works.

Next week is the FINAL week of Metro budget hearings, and this is our opportunity to demand meaningful investment in solutions instead of continued crisis management.

If we stay silent now, we lose this opportunity for the entire fiscal year.

Please take a moment to submit a public comment supporting full funding for the housing continuum and the Safe & Stable campaign:
https://louisvilleky.gov/government/2026-2027-louisville-metro-budget-comment-form

Every voice added to the public record matters.

05/28/2026

Today, a reporter reached out to ask whether we have seen or heard about increased violence toward the unhoused community.

Our response was simple: when advocates talk about “vulnerability,” this is exactly what we mean.

Vulnerability is not just exposure to the elements. It is the daily reality of micro and macro aggression and violence experienced by unhoused people. It is harassment by law enforcement. It is people having their personal property destroyed. It is assaults, robberies, and in the most extreme cases, murder.

While these incidents are not exclusively tied to Kentucky’s relatively recent criminalization of homelessness, policies that push people out of visible or safer spaces absolutely increase vulnerability. When people are forced into isolation, away from well-lit areas, away from community, and away from the relative safety of being surrounded by others who are also surviving on the street, the risks grow dramatically.

A safe place to exist matters.

People deserve somewhere they can sleep without fear of violence. Somewhere they can keep the few belongings they have without them being destroyed. Somewhere they are treated as human beings instead of problems to be removed from public view.

This is why advocates continue to speak out. Because criminalization does not solve homelessness — it makes surviving it even more dangerous.

05/23/2026

🥪Another year, a new sack lunch sign up!🥪

Our Sack Lunch Program is one of the easiest and most impactful ways individuals, families, churches, congregations, workplaces, and community groups can get involved with Louisville Outreach for the Unsheltered.

Sign up here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094DADAA22A1FF2-62788829-lou #/

Every Sunday, our outreach teams head into the community carrying meals, supplies, and compassion directly to our neighbors living unsheltered across Louisville. These lunches are often the first point of connection that helps build trust, consistency, and relationships.

Want a meaningful team-building activity for your organization, school, or congregation?

It's also a great way for your child to get ahead of their service hours for next year! No more last minute scrambling! 😏

Our Sack Lunch Program is a great opportunity to serve together while making a direct impact in the lives of others.

Lunches can include:
• PB&J sandwiches, tuna packets, or Vienna sausages
• Salty snacks (everyone loves chips!)
• Sweet snacks
• Soft fruits or any additional treats

Completed lunches are dropped off to us on Sundays between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm at Beargrass Christian Church before outreach begins.

Support like this is what keeps our outreach moving every single week. Thank you to every volunteer, donor, congregation, and community partner helping us meet people where they are with dignity, compassion, and care. ❤️

To learn more or get involved:
🌐 www.lououtreach.org

Address

1801 Portland Avenue
Louisville, KY
40203

Telephone

+15027543464

Website

http://lououtreach.org/, https://linktr.ee/lououtreach

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