KENTUCKY — United States Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson spoke with Spectrum News 1 about the work being done across the nation and right here in the Commonwealth, to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

Secretary Carson, who also is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, shared that thanks to many communities in the Commonwealth continuing to practice safe social distancing, based on the data he’s seeing, he is optimistic that the spread of COVID-19 is slowing.

"This is really quite a story where the American people have grasped the significance of needing to participate in this and to cooperate. I think that has accelerated the pace with which we're going to be able to get through this. The key thing now is just because things are leveling off and starting to go down, we can't take our foot off the accelerator. We have to stay focused,” explains Carson

Secretary Carson has been front and center as part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force since it was first launched in March and says as communities across the country continue to fight the coronavirus outbreak, this is the time to for people to come together to lend a helping to their neighbors in need.

"With EnVision Centers, it makes it much much easier for people to take advantage of what's already available, and particularly right now. You have a lot of people who have great concerns about some of the basic things in life, like being able to eat. And one of the EnVision Centers in Kentucky, actually has sort of converted their mission to feeding the children, because the children are at school a lot of other children get their meals at school," adds Carson.

Carson also highlighted the work being done by the Housing Authority of Bowling Green who is using its EnVision Center as a mobile grocery store, making deliveries to people’s neighborhoods and homes, so they can continue practicing safe, social distancing.

"I would say, recognize that this too will pass. This is a temporary situation, you know, like other viral epidemics and the two will go away. We will have learned a lot from it and while we're in it, which we are right now, and we will be for a while, just because the curve is starting to thin down, just because things are starting to look better, don't let up on your hand washing and on your social distancing, and wearing your vast and appropriate settings and doing all the things that we have learned if we continue to do that, we will be able to shed it completely,” says Carson

There are four of those facilities across Kentucky, you can find them in Bowling Green, Henderson, Louisville and Lexington.