Lexington’s new Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention now has a director.
Mayor Jim Gray officially named the Community Action Council’s Charlie Lanter to the position Friday.
Lanter says it’s a good time to be coming in.
"There seems to be a consensus building in Lexington towards really tackling some of the tough issues and homeless is one of those issues, as is affordable housing. I'm honored and humbled to be the person who gets to coordinate that - and I say coordinate because it's going to take everybody," he tells WUKY.
Lanter is a former newspaper reporter who joined the Community Action Council in 2005 and was mentored by Jack Burch, who passed away this week.
He says priority one is sorting through the long list of recommendations made in the mayor’s 2013 Commission on Homelessness. The Urban County Council recently endorsed the Mayor’s plan to set aside $500,000 in surplus dollars for a homelessness fund along with $3 million for affordable housing.
Lanter will take the reins in May.