The New Life Day Center continues to thrive as a resource center for Lexington’s homeless population. The center came to life by a group of people who felt there was a need to offer more help to those in need during daylight hours instead of just a bed at night.
Tyler Hurst, Executive Director of New Life Day Center says two programs in particular are proving to be a monumental success. “One thing that you might be aware of is our end panhandling now van. We get 11 people to work on that van every Tuesday and Thursday and they’re picking up trash around the city. We’ve picked up something like 10,000 bags of trash so far. Another program that we offer here is deposit assistance. So if a homeless individual has income but they’re homeless, we’ll pay their rental deposit and they have to pay their first month but that gets them off the street”
Hurst says the number of panhandlers in Lexington has gone down significantly since the work vans started rolling and to date, more than 300 people have gotten assistance to move into permanent housing.
If you would like to volunteer with the center or make a donation, you can call 859-721-2325 or visit the center at 224 North Martin Luther King Blvd.