LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness announced a virtual public listening session Wednesday evening to gather community input about homelessness in the city, according to a media advisory from the Mayor’s Office. The virtual session was scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 21. Organ izers said the Community Engagement Committee, a subcommittee of the task force, will use the gathering to “engage residents, businesses, and neighborhood organizations to ensure transparency, reduce misinformation, and build consensus about needed services” for people experiencing homelessness. Information collected during the session will be presented to the full task force to help members develop recommendations for Mayor Linda Gorton. Those unable to attend the meeting could submit comments and suggestions by email to [email protected]. The listening session comes as the task force recently outlined an ambitious plan to address homelessness in Lexington. In a May 13 meeting, the group approved $3.9 million in appropriations, including $2.4 million for emergency disaster shelter funding and $1.5 million for an Innovative and Sustainable Solutions Fund. Mayor Gorton convened the task force in response to a June 2025 Emergency Homeless Shelter Study, which found additional resources are needed to address homelessness in Fayette County, including building a new emergency shelter. The task force has been reviewing the city’s emergency shelter system and developing recommendations for strategic next steps grounded in the study’s data and findings. The 2025 LexCount census showed 925 residents in Lexington are homeless, an increase of 100 people from 2024. The count, which measures people sleeping outdoors or in emergency shelters, represents part of a broader troubling trend: homelessness in Lexington has increased 34% since 2020. The task force, co-chaired by Diane Fleet of GreenHouse 17 and Abdul Muhammad of WesBanco, includes city council members, housing advocates, service providers, business leaders, and community representatives. The group is working through subcommittees focused on supportive services, prevention, shelter needs, and financial options. This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from a press release emailed to [email protected] by City of Lexington Mayor’s Office, enriched with 2 web searches. The post Task Force seeks community input on Lexington homelessness appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less