It is truly hard to believe that so much time has passed since those exciting days of task forces, committees and one learning experience after another. I am still in awe of the amazing response this community made toward the less fortunate among us and the fact that the response remains to this day!

In late 1981 and all of 1982, we began to see increasing numbers of people coming to Christ Church Cathedral with requests for shelter, food, rent and utility assistance, etc., etc. This was true for any of the organizations that dealt with the homeless throughout the city, but particularly in the downtown areas. Initially, the Clergy and the staff at Christ Church Cathedral dealt with these visitors, but, as the numbers increased, a call went out for volunteers to assist the staff in dealing with these increasing numbers. I was one of the several Cathedral members who answered this call. Resources were very limited so mostly we learned to lend a listening ear as well as how to say no, in a loving way. Surprisingly, this was helpful to many. An event in early December 1982 changed everything: Gary Lee Hurst, a 20-year-old, emotionally disturbed homeless man and a regular Cathedral visitor, committed suicide in the Jefferson County Jail, an event that received widespread local media coverage. Gary’s family asked Spenser Simrill, our Canon at the time, to conduct Gary’s funeral service which he did. The funeral was attended by a reporter from the Courier-Journal who became interested in how the Cathedral was dealing with the homeless, and, on January 2, 1983, a Sunday, an article entitled "Wandering Ones Find a Haven" appeared on the front page of the Metro section. The next morning, a Monday, the phones began ringing with offers of clothing, money, food and volunteers to help this ministry. It didn’t take long for al of us involved to realize opportunity was knocking and we simply had to respond, and do so quickly. So, the Inner City Street Ministry was born. In the space of a few short weeks, we gathered volunteers and resources, did some training, and opened up the Ministry in a basement room next to the Clothes Closet which was already there. We were open Monday-Friday in the mornings.

During the same winter, there were several homeless deaths on the streets, which, among other things, led Mayor Harvey Sloan to form a Task Force on the Homeless, whose job was to define the extent of the homeless problem in Louisville, and to make recommendations as to how the local government and community should respond to meet the needs of a seemingly growing number of homeless men, women and families. Father Joe Vest, who coordinated the Cathedral of the Assumption’s outreach to the homeless, was asked to Chair the Task Force. I was added as co-chair when it became obvious that it was more than a one-person job. Seventy-four persons representing groups who in any way interfaced with the homeless, were recruited and made up the Task Force. This group worked very hard for over a year and issued its report in July of 1985. Among its recommendations, the two most important were:

That a permanent day center be opened that would provide daily services (7 days a week) using the Inner City Ministry at Christ Church as its model, and

That a permanent Coalition for the Homeless be established to serve as a coordinating umbrella group for al agencies serving the homeless. Advocacy and education of the public on homeless issues was to be high priority.

The day center actually opened in April of 1986 thanks to the members of the Task Force who formed the core of the Coalition and who worked very hard to get St. John running.

When the dust all settled, I found myself as Chair of both Boards, The Coalition and St. John (a rather obvious conflict of interests), so I resigned from the Coalition Board to solve that problem. However, before doing so, the Board made one of the best, if not the best, of its decisions by hiring Sue Speed as the Coalition’s Executive Director.

So, that’s my not so short story of how The Coalition for the Homeless came to be…a really wonderful story of how the religious, governmental and wider communities came together to make a difference for those less fortunate among us.

During the winter of 1983-84, several homeless men died on Louisville streets. Both the Cathedral of the Assumption and Christ Church Cathedral asked then Harvey Sloan to take action and begin to address homeless issues. The mayor established a countywide Homeless Task Force chaired by Larry Otto and the late Joe Vest.

The number one action step that came out of the Task Force was the establishment of a day center for the homeless. Thus, St. John Center became a reality in April of 1986 under the capable and loving leadership of Sister Mary Kathleen, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. For over 22 years, she served in that role. Presently, the superb and wonderful Maria Price is serving her third year as Director.

Out of the Homeless Task Force, The Coalition for the Homeless was incorporated on January 28, 1986. At the beginning, St. John Center and The Coalition for the Homeless were joined at the hip. The first Interim Director was the Reverend Mike Elliot and shortly after, the fabulous Sue Speed became director and served nearly 12 years. I was the City of Louisville representative on The Coalition for the Homeless board and Blanche Cooper was Jefferson County’s representative. Alex Broderick, ex-Director of Volunteers of America was the Chair. What a perfect example of collaborative efforts. Those years were some of my happiest in my working career.

The very capable Marlene Gordon followed as Director for 13 years, and now our wonderful Natalie Harris is the present Director. The Coalition for the Homeless has been blessed with terrific leadership and leaders that care.

I close with a quote from Robert F. Kennedy, who said, "If only for a time that those who live with us, are, our brothers and sisters that they share with us some short moment of life, that they seek, as do we, nothing, but the chance to live out our lives, in purpose and in happiness."

Let’s hope that will be true for all.