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McCracken County Court Considers $50K Grant to Build Women’s Shelter

Lance Dennee
/
WKMS

The McCracken County Fiscal Court is considering a $50,000 grant for Paducah Cooperative Ministry to build a shelter for women.

Paducah Cooperative Ministry executive director Heidi Suhrheinrich told the court changes to Housing and Urban Development regulations will end a 24-year partnership with the Paducah Housing Authority.

“We are very concerned about this. It’s a community concern not just a PCM concern, because we have been providing the only homeless shelter for single women and one of the only two shelters in the western Kentucky region for single moms with children,” she said.

PCM offers the only single women’s shelter and one of two for women with children. Hopkinsville is the closest shelter but does not offer more than nightly housing.

“When folks are desperate and unable to get their basic human needs met, that’s when we see things like crime rates rise, that’s when we see increasing frequency of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect,” Suhrheinrich said. “We don’t want to see that happen.”

Judge-executive Van Newberry said the Fiscal Court has a mission to the “health and welfare” of county residents. The court asked county attorney Michael Murphy to look at any legal issues that may restrict them from action.

According to a May 5 press release PCM helped 63 single women and 42 mothers with 79 children. 

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