LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX18) — More than a year after Kentucky implemented House Bill 5, known as the anti-camping law that prevents unhoused people from street camping, those experiencing homelessness say the legislation has only made their situation worse.
Gregory Searight, who lives at the Catholic Action Center, knows the struggle of cold nights and uncertainty about where to sleep in Lexington. He became homeless after his wife of 17 years died.
"I just gave up on life. Just didn't want to live. Didn't want to do nothing. So I became homeless. Lost my house, lost my job, but I still took care of my kids," Searight said.
The anti-camping law has created additional challenges for people like Searight who are already facing difficult circumstances.
"Camping in the park used to be safe. It was our safe house," Searight said.
Now, those seeking shelter outdoors face potential legal consequences for simply trying to survive.
"Is that against the law? We sleeping outside in the elements. We sleeping on cardboard. We sleeping up on the benches, tables. But you want to put us in jail?" Searight said.
According to statewide data, there have been 425 unlawful camping charges in district court across 30 different Kentucky counties as of July.
In Lexington, a 2025 street survey counted more than 2,000 unhoused people, with 223 reporting harassment for sleeping outside.
Council District 5 member Liz Sheehan believes criminalizing homelessness is not the answer.
"What I'm seeing is a lot of damages that this law creates, so I don't see how criminalizing homelessness provides any support or resources to our unhoused population. It shouldn't be a crime to be poor," Sheehan said.
Sheehan advocates for permanent housing as the ultimate solution and emphasizes the need for community involvement.
"We really do need this to be a community solution. We need people to come together to talk about it, but also to understand that we have a community responsibility to our neighbors to really show kindness to them in a time of great need," Sheehan said.
Searight wants people to remember that those experiencing homelessness are more than just faces on the street.
"You one step from being homeless yourself. Just one step. Make a mistake a you'll be homeless. So stop judging us because we made a mistake to being homeless. Or we got into a situation that was out of our control to being homeless," Searight said.
"Nobody should have to live like this," Searight said.
