Researchers from University of Louisville presented the findings of a study they conducted on the unsheltered homeless population in the city during a news conference Tuesday. A team of researchers from University of Louisville's Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky (CIK) and Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research (CCTSJR) spent five months studying the problems and conducting interviews with homeless individuals and outreach coordinators. The study was funded with $50,000 from Louisville Metro."Our specific task was to better understand unsheltered homeless. The growing number of encampments has been increasingly visible, and other residents are sleeping in their cars and on vacant or abandoned properties," said Dr. Susan Buchino, with the Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky's Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences Department. Buchino and her team came up with a set of eight recommendations, including expanding and evolving homeless services, revising encampment policies and offering more low-barrier shelter options. They also suggested improving collaboration between agencies and outreach groups, increasing affordable housing units and creating policies that will address the root causes of homelessness. "The needs of individuals experiencing homelessness are as diverse as they are, and each person deserves appropriate and individualized supports that recognize their human value and intrinsic resilience," Buchino said. The team put emphasis on two recommendations: creating more low-barrier shelters and increasing affordable housing units in the city. "Our main findings are that we lack resources in terms of affordable housing and in terms of shelter beds," said Dr. Kelly Kinahan, with University of Louisville's Department of Urban and Public Affairs. Addressing these issues would require significant investment from the city, as well as funding from the state and federal governments. "It is going to take dedication, and, you know, making some different decisions on how we're spending and investing resources," Kinahan said. Tiny Herron Markwell, a homeless outreach coordinator, said the report was spot on."They really got a good, a good grasp on what the needs are," Herron Markwell said. She hopes helping those who are unsheltered will be a priority for the city. "Putting money into funding that type of, that level of care with the type of work that we do," Markwell said.