Jewish Heritage Fund grants $650,000 to help homeless in Louisville

October 29, 2025
4 min read
Health

Brian Shlonsky | WAVE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – It’s one of the city’s most vulnerable populations – young adults who are experiencing homelessness. But now, they will soon have more resources to get them off the streets and on the path to success.

Tuesday, the Jewish Heritage Fund announced a $500,000 grant to help provide temporary housing for young adults in Louisville who are experiencing homelessness.

“With young adults comprising one of the fastest growing segments of homelessness in Louisville, we know the earlier we can get these individuals into stable jobs and housing, the more likely we are to prevent the compounding adverse effects of homelessness,” said Jeff Polson, Jewish Heritage Fund President and CEO.

The program will be housed in the Smoketown neighborhood at the Volunteers of America Mid-States Community Campus, where work and renovations using this grant money will create transitional housing specifically for the 18-24-year-old age range.

“This Community Care Campus will provide a central place where people experiencing homelessness will access shelter, health care, and permanent housing, said VOA Mid-States President and CEO Jennifer Hancock. “We are so proud to collaborate with the mayor and his team to bring this project to life, and we will see the first phase open in the spring. Stay tuned for more on that. When we were creating the master plan for this campus, we talked about the fact that young adults are the fastest-growing homeless population in our city. We were determined to address that issue, and this generous investment from the Jewish Heritage Fund makes that promise real.”

There will be 15 transitional housing units created by the renovations – each with a bathroom and storage space.

Another $150,000 from JHF will go to the YMCA Safe Place Services to help young adults on-site with job placement services and housing navigation.

“The impact that we make is done by us coming together, not alone, taking this journey together is so important,” said Gary Cobbs, President and CEO of Greater Louisville. “Together, we’ll provide transitional housing units for more than 15 to 20 people alongside the case management and wraparound support services. This kind of holistic care that allows young adults not just to survive, but to build independent, thriving lives. I have every confidence in our YMCA Safe Place team and what this collaboration will achieve. The support and services offered through this new transitional housing project will change the trajectories and transform lives.”

Isiah Daniels knows first-hand what it’s like living on the streets and feeling you have no place to turn for help. He experienced homelessness several times after aging out of programs aimed to help kids – it’s one of the reasons the 18-24-year-old age bracket is one these organizations hope to specifically target.

“Everyone in their life has challenges,” Daniels said. “For me, it was some deaths of some people really close to me, including some family members and friends, along with being bullied in school. I also lived in an abusive household. I was treated differently than everyone else. I also did not know how to cope with that situation. I certainly wasn’t ready for the challenges of successfully living on my own.”

With help and resources, Daniels has become a success story – a look at what can happen when there are programs to assist young people who are experiencing homelessness. He said he can’t wait to see this program come together.

“Now, I’m housed, and I work at GE Appliances, and I also go to JCTC, so I can provide for me and my son,” Daniels said. “So, I can say things are going pretty good right now.”

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the Community Care Campus, once completed, will be a national model for helping young people experiencing homelessness find stability.

“One of my highest priorities as mayor is to create safe, affordable places for everyone in our city to call home,” Greenberg said. “Put simply, we need more housing of all types in all neighborhoods across our entire city.”

The VOA said the current timeline projects active construction at what was once an old Smoketown hotel to be completed by the spring of 2026. The former C2 event center will be a space for administrative teams – that should open, VOA said, by the end of 2026. The team is also working with federal organizations to determine a way to bring permanent housing to the campus.