Attn: Johnson Co KY residents ONLY 

We,  the undersigned, are petitioning the city of Paintsville and the court to stop the closure of the emergency shelter and homeless center at 501 Jefferson Avenue,  Paintsville  Ky.  There are people with disabilities, people in recovery, and people who are just in hardship. During this time, our economy is hard.  Most of do not know what it is like to not have a home, go hungry, or be cold. But these people do .This year has been a hard winter. What would these people have done without this facility?

We are an outreach helping  with food and supply’s. We are at the shelter checking on them 3 to 4 times a week. We see great things happening there. There is definitely a need for it to stay within the city limits due to most not having any transportation. Some of these people have jobs. We know this because Terry, a member of our outreach, takes them to work and picks them up when the weather is bad. We serve them hot meals and snacks. We have worship services with them on Saturday nights, and they also attend church services on Sunday mornings. We have never dealt with a more appreciative group than they are. This facility truly is changing our community in a positive way. The people at this facility are not the ones you see being a menace to the community. Unfortunately, they are being wrongfully labeled and grouped with the members of another facility quite close in the area. 

   Each one of us have someone close to us or a family member who has struggles. That does not mean we turn compassion off and  treat them differently. How can shutting this facility down, and making them live on the streets improve this community? It won’t.