Volunteers in W. Ky. county see homelessness up close as they try to help, and their weekly newspaper reports on it

Trash litters the area surrounding a homeless encampment near
near Drakesboro, Kentucky (Photo by Stacie Barton, Leader-News)

Rolling hills dotted with striking bald cypresses and homelessness. In Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, that's what food-pantry workers encountered on their stop in Drakesboro, reports Stacie Barton of the Leader-News, a local weekly. "Up on a hill overlooking U.S. Highway 431, two people in their mid-40s are living in a badly worn tent. The tent is missing its poles and was laying almost flat on the couple as they emerged to greet Scott Casebier and Debra Gorham, volunteers from Hope2All Food Pantry. They were delivering food and checking in to see if they could help in any way."

There are many reasons homelessness happens, "Mary has been on disability since childhood, but at some point fell out of the system. Scotty seemed unwilling to relive the series of events that landed him here. The two have no income at all," Barton writes. "There is a low cinderblock building people at the food pantry call the 'chicken houses.' It has been divided into three units, which are rented out to people as a place to live. . . .The chicken houses are reported to have no running water, no toilets, and only one unit has electricity. . . . Mary had lived in the chicken houses but was unable to pay the $300 in rent to stay there, so she has been living outdoors for about six months."

Barton reports, "A 16-year-old boy lives at the Central Motel in Central City with his mother, aunt and adult cousin. The four of them live in one room with only one bed. Brayden is in high school and works a job to provide for his family. . . . Brayden catches the school bus around the corner. He's lived at the motel for around five months. . . . At the other end of the motel, a young family of five is living in a room with two queen beds. There are little tricycles and a bike with training wheels sitting outside the door, and the room is tidy. Brianna is doing her best. . . . Her husband has a job at a nearby coal mine. . . . His income makes them ineligible for food stamps, Brianna said."

Casebier travels from Drakesboro to Powderly along his pantry delivery route, "There are camp trailers, storage sheds, and homes with boarded up windows," Barton writes. "Casebier said working at the pantry has shed a light on people living in precarious places around the community." He told Barton, "Being a pastor, down through the years, we help people through our churches and know it exists. But not until I got with Hope2All did I realize the needs." Barton reports, "The food pantry sends roughly 800 boxes of food home with Muhlenberg County residents each month, which are meant to feed a household. Each week, the pantry sees 20-30 new families who qualify for food assistance come through the line, which snakes around the block. Dozens more are delivered to people without transportation."

Casebier told Barton, “We have people who come to our food pantry that live like the rest of us, but then something happens." Barton writes, "Casebier wraps up his visit with Scotty and Mary by asking them if they need anything. He’ll purchase a new tent and air mattress for them, and offers to put them up in a motel for a night or two. Mary declines the offer. She said it might sound funny, but she’s gotten used to living outdoors."