KentuckyOne Health and Women for Habitat Volunteers Team Up to Build House for Louisville Family - Archived

 

Louisville, Ky. (March 17, 2014)—Officials and volunteers with KentuckyOne Health and Women for Habitat, blessed the ground on Saturday for the construction of a new Habitat for Humanity house in Louisville.

 

The “raise the roof” portion of the build, which includes constructing walls and a roof, took place throughout March 13-15, 2014.  The entire construction of the home will take three months to complete.

 

The “raise the roof” project took more than 90 volunteers and more than 700 construction hours. Angela Richardson, a single mom, and her 11-year-old son will call the new house “home.”

 

“Safe, adequate housing is an important factor contributing to overall health. Community members with substandard housing tend to have worse health outcomes,” said Alice Bridges, vice president, healthy communities, KentuckyOne Health.  “We proudly support this Habitat for Humanity initiative as part of our efforts to build a healthy community.”

 

“We are so excited to begin work on Angela’s house,” says Lisa Echsner, director of marketing and development for Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville. “She has put in over 400 hours of sweat-equity to get to this day, so we know she is ready too. Angela is a perfect example of who we are trying to help -- someone with a stable job, willing to learn and put in the effort to make it happen. She will finally have a home of her own and will be out of public housing. What more could we want?”

 

KentuckyOne Health has provided four skilled crew chiefs from the hospital’s facilities management department to assist in the building of the home. In addition, KentuckyOne and Women for Habitat have recruited more than 20 volunteers to “raise the roof” on the home.

 

Through programs such as the Habitat for Humanity partnership, KentuckyOne Health is working to create an environment that ensures healthy places and spaces where people cannot just live, but thrive. Safe, affordable housing is foundational to good health.

 

In 2013, KentuckyOne Health announced a $250,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville to, in turn, lend to homebuyers.  Through this loan, Habitat for Humanity will build at least five new homes, toward its goal of 75 houses for the Portland neighborhood. Some of the homes will be built from scratch, while others may be renovated.

 

KentuckyOne’s loan to Habitat for Humanity is part of the Catholic Health Initiatives’ Direct Community Investment (DCI) program. Since 1999, DCI has invested more than $44 million in the services and initiatives of organizations in the United States and beyond. 

 

To volunteer for a Habitat for Humanity project in Louisville, visit Louisvillehabitat.volunteerhub.com.

  

About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health was formed when two major Kentucky health care organizations came together in early 2012. KentuckyOne Health combines the Jewish and Catholic heritages of the two former systems – Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System. In late 2012, the organization formed a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital | James Graham Brown Cancer Center.  The nonprofit system is committed to improving the health of Kentuckians by integrating medical research, education, technology and health care services wherever patients receive care. KentuckyOne Health has more than 200 locations including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies across the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is the largest health system in Kentucky.

What is Habitat for Humanity?
A nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, Habitat for Humanity builds simple and affordable homes in partnership with those in need of decent housing. Habitat sells houses to qualified families at no profit with zero interest mortgage loans. The Kentucky Housing Corporation services mortgage payments pro bono for Habitat Louisville.