In the basement of the Louisville Pride Center in Old Louisville, an area once used to store miscellaneous supplies is now filled with food.
Canned goods, condiments, rice, spices and pasta pack the shelves.
This is Louisville Pride Center’s food pantry. It’s open every second and fourth Wednesday of the month from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
All anyone needs to do to access it is write their name on a sign-in sheet and the number of people in their household.
“You don't have to have your ID. It doesn't matter what zip code you live in. We don't check your gay card when you come in either,” said Sydni Hampton, program manager at the Louisville Pride Center, smiling.
Hampton said that since August, the Louisville Pride Center’s food pantry has served more than 470 people. A majority of whom, she said, aren’t known members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“But we're happy to have them in here and to get the help, because most of the time, they're our neighbors,” Hampton said. “They might live a couple of blocks away, or, you know, a ZIP code over, but they're coming here for a needed service, where they don't have to jump through hoops to get the things that they need.”
The hoops Hampton is referring to are ID and disclosure requirements. For many in need of these services, access to an ID might not be possible and having to disclose certain information, like immigration status, might act as a hindrance to getting services.
Some states have moved to remove ID checks for access to food pantries in the hopes of increasing the number of people who use resources.
Hampton said the volunteers and staff who operate the food pantry try to create a welcoming, non-judgmental environment, particularly for LGBTQ+ people who may feel unsafe in other spaces.
“The idea to have it here was born out of necessity, because queer and trans people are not going to want to go somewhere where they're not going to be treated with dignity, they're not going to be treated fairly, and they're going to get misgendered or looked at funny for how they dress, or how they look,” Hampton said.
Getting people to use the food pantry opens the door for them to learn about addiction help, HIV testing and treatment and other health care services.
Hampton said the added benefit of the Louisville Pride Center’s food pantry is giving non-LGTBQ+ people a space to positively interact with members of the community.
“We interact with a lot of people who are not queer, or not visibly queer, I should say, who've maybe never met a trans person before,” Hampton explained. “They come downstairs to the basement to take a look at what we got, and they're greeted by me or one of my volunteers, and we might be the first time, like the first trans person or super visibly queer person that they've ever met.”
Hampton is trans and a local drag performer. She said interaction with visibility, out trans and other members of the LGBTQ+ community can help break down some of the biases food pantry users may come in with.
“They come back and they come back and they come back, eventually, they've had multiple experiences with a queer person that have been positive, where they've received help and care, and it's all been done in a way that provides a lot of dignity and respect,” Hampton said.
The center aims to build connections with community members often left on the margins of society.
At Cry Baby General Store in Shelby Park, owner Shawn O'Donnell has set up a warming station for their housing-insecure neighbors to momentarily escape the cold.
“I figure it's not that hard to warm someone up,” O’Donnell said. “We have a little microwave and a kettle over there, and some soup and blankets and gloves and socks and when someone comes in, we just kind of throw as much stuff at them as we can.”
Even though Cry Baby General Store mainly deals in small trinkets, household items and customized decor and gifts, there are free items dotted around the store.
Outside of the warming station, they have set out emergency contraceptives, Narcan and drug testing strips all for free community use.
“When you have a business in a neighborhood, especially a residential neighborhood, you want it to be welcoming for everyone who lives there already,” O’Donnell said. “I'm not here to draw in new people to the area, you know. So if that's who [housing insecure people] shows up, that's who I'm gonna be prepared for.”
O’Donnell said they’ve built connections with the folks who come into Cry Baby to utilize the warming center and stock up on supplies.
“I like knowing where they all are. I like accounting for them and hearing just what they're up to and how their health is doing,” O’Donnell said.
Like the Louisville Pride Center’s food pantry, access to Cry Baby’s warming center and supplies is fairly open.
“I don't really need to know, necessarily, what these people are up to. I don't care if they're using drugs. None of that really matters to me,” O’Donnell said. “I just want this to be publicly accessible, and I want everyone to feel good about it.”
They want to use their store as a means to break down the line between the housing insecure and the housed.
“Money shouldn't be a barrier to that feeling of getting your needs met or just having a little joy,” O’Donnell said.
Needed donations for the Louisville Pride Center’s food pantry can be found on its website, and O’Donnell posts updates on needed items on Cry Baby’s General Store’s Instagram.