Groundbreaking held for $6.4 million homeless services center in Covington

COVINGTON, Ky. (FOX19) - Welcome House of Northern Kentucky held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for a $6.4 million homeless services center which will double the number of women and children the organization can serve, among other populations.

Welcome House is currently the only facility in Northern Kentucky providing housing for women and children, but it has only been able to house up to 35 in that group.

“This has really been almost a heroic feat. We have some really, really engaged passionate donors that have helped us get here. It’s been really overwhelming for me to have people in our community that are so generous,” Welcome House CEO Danielle Amrine said.

At the moment, Welcome House is not wheelchair accessible but the new facility will have an accessible first floor.

Amrine emphasizes that so many are in wheelchairs with no place to go, but now Welcome House will be able to give them shelter and access to services.

“We’ll be able to serve the neediest people in our community: Seniors, people with multiple chronic conditions,” Amrine said.

She says the new facility will be able to service two-parent families, a group that typically has difficulties accessing shelters.

“I think it’s going to have a huge impact on the community. So many two-parent families are choosing to sleep in their cars or storage units so they can stay together with their family,” Amrine added.

As the Welcome House CEO points out, this new center will also help logistically as it consolidates operations from three different buildings from the 1800s under one roof.

Amrine says it will be a homeless resource center and since Welcome House operates almost ten programs, it will help clients to be able to come to just one facility to receive all services.

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