Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

Close to 1,000 members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul gathered at the Galt House in Louisville from August 27 to 30 for the organization’s National Assembly. The event drew dozens of participants from the Archdiocese of Louisville and featured prayer, Mass, a spiritual retreat, keynote addresses, and workshops covering topics such as homelessness prevention, Catholic social teaching, fundraising, and finance.

Dr. Gregg Colburn, associate professor at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments, delivered a presentation on August 28 based on his book “Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns,” co-authored with Clayton Page Aldern. In their research, Colburn and Aldern examined common assumptions about homelessness in the United States—such as mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather conditions, public assistance generosity, and low-income mobility—and found that these factors do not fully explain why individuals become homeless or why rates differ across regions.

“Homelessness is a housing problem. We created conditions for homelessness to thrive. That’s a fundamental truth,” said Colburn during his presentation. “ … We need to create more access to housing if we want to address homelessness.”

Jennifer Clark, CEO of St. Vincent de Paul Louisville who attended the assembly and heard Colburn speak, commented on how these findings relate locally: “It reflects what we’re seeing,” she said. Because of a lack of housing availability in Louisville,“Even when we have the funds, it takes a long time because there are no units to put them (clients) in.”

St. Vincent de Paul focuses its efforts on helping homeless individuals secure permanent housing.

John Raque serves as president of St. Raphael Church’s St. Vincent de Paul conference and was among 63 members from the archdiocese present at the event.“The majority of the calls we take weekly are for help with rent and utilities. We help about 40-50 individuals a month and the majority is for rent,” said Raque.“That’s the biggest need.”

Raque described affordable housing as an ongoing challenge in Louisville.“The math is tough.That’s the challenge—affordable housing.It doesn’t take much to put somebody behind.” He cited an example where an employed client earning $950 per month paid $700 monthly in rent.

St.Raphael assists approximately 50 people each month.They also work with other parish conferences to combine resources for families facing hardship.Twenty-seven parish conferences participate in carrying out St.Vincent de Paul’s mission within the archdiocese.More information about Dr.Colburn's research can be found at https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/.