LAFAYETTE, La. — Governor Jeff Landry's move to cut $1 million from Acadiana homeless shelters is frustrating people who use these services. Now, KATC hears directly from them that the most affected are in the Hub City.
To read out past coverage on this, click here.
According to Catholic Charities of Acadiana, that move would affect close to 90 homeless individuals who seek shelter, food, and resources nightly.
In a statement, Governor Landry says:
“As you can see from their website, part of Catholic Charities' mission is to support the influx of illegal aliens into our country. Taxpayers should never foot the bill for nonprofits who are contributing to the illegal immigration crisis our nation is facing."
Kim Boudreaux, CEO of Catholic Charities of Acadiana responded, saying it's a major setback:
"The vetoed shelter appropriations are a significant setback to our pro-life efforts to care for our vulnerable neighbors experiencing homelessness."
That shelter is a critical lifeline for people like Micheal Durell, who is experiencing homelessness and who is also a veteran. The cut leaves him and others worried about their future.
"It makes the shelters get in a bind because they don't have nowhere else to go. People have nowhere to go you got crimes all over the place," he says. "Because they are getting dispersed so they find ways to live so that shelter keeps crime down in a lot of ways I know the crime numbers are down because in certain areas of the shelter because they have provided hospitality so that don't have to steal for."
Preston James is also experiencing homelessness and using St. Joseph's Diner to get free meals daily. KATC broke the news to him about the removal of funds, and this was his response.
"Oh that's going to hurt us out here, they help us with the food and clothes and anything they got they will help us out here and we need help out here, we are up in the heat all day. Thank God for good people. They do bring us water, but man, that's a lot of money."
If you are experiencing homelessness and need a link to local resources, click here.
