Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville Celebrates Completion of Sheppard Square Development with Final Home Dedication | |
| This celebration marks the completion of Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville’s 16-home commitment at Sheppard Square, part of the broader redevelopment of the former public housing complex launched in 2011 with support from a $22 million HOPE VI grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Through its partnership with the Louisville Metro Housing Authority (LMHA), Louisville Habitat helped bring affordable single-family homeownership to the new mixed-income neighborhood and support long-term stability in Smoketown. | |
Since the first Louisville Habitat home was built in Sheppard Square in 2020, 16 families have gained access to affordable homeownership and the opportunity to build greater financial security and generational wealth. | |
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Pictured above (left to right): Pat Noonan, core construction leader, Kaylah and her daughter, new Habitat homeowner, and Ja'mel Armstrong, Homebuyer Engagement Manager. Kaylah and her family became the newest residents of the historic Smoketown Neighborhood.
To see coverage, click here to watch the Louisville MetroTV video of community leaders, LMHA, Kaylah, sponsors and volunteers celebrating this final home.
Click here for a birds eye view from above.
| | Pictured Above: Clay Kannappell, Louisville Habitat Board Chair, Mayor Greg Greenberg, Rob Locke, Louisville Habitat CEO | | Brief video clip of the celebration | | We are just one week away from Give for Good 2026! This year, Give for Good Louisville is on Thursday, September 10. For 24 hours, the Community Foundation of Louisville and its partners will maximize the community’s generosity with prizes and bonus dollars. Invite your family, friends, and coworkers to donate on September 10th to help us reach our goal of $50,000 and make Give for Good Louisville a huge success for our community! | | | |
Ways you can support Louisville Habitat!
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Donate via our Give for Good pagege - Read about Charese's family and how she become a Habitat homeowner!
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Become a fundraising champion for Louisville Habitat to help spread the word and raise more support. Similar to Facebook birthday fundraisers - Click here to create your Click here to create your fundraising page.page. You can add your own story and photos, if you choose, and simply click publish on the top of the screen. Then, share with your network of family and friends why you support Louisville Habitat. Online days of giving are successful because of our own networks!
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Submit your answer to the question “Why I give…” for a chance to win $100 for a participating organization of your choice. All #WhyIGive responses must be submitted no later than September 9, 2026. Click here to Click here to Submit!
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Visit the Louisville Habitat Facebook and/or Instagram pages. “Like” and share the posts about our Give for Good Louisville efforts. Use the hashtag #GiveforGoodLou
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Your support during Give for Good ensures that more families will find strength, stability and opportunities in neighborhoods across Louisville.
Questions? Email bgallagher@louisvillehabitat.org.
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There are 1,236 vacant lots and abandoned properties in Louisville Metro as confirmed by the Department of Codes and Regulations. Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville has been part of the solution to this persistent issue since its inception, using vacant lots to build houses and strengthen neighborhoods.
Regular citizens can be part of the solution, too. Portland residents know too well the challenges associated with vacant and abandoned properties (VAPs). Nearly every block in Portland has a vacant lot or abandoned house, which can attract unwanted behaviors or decline. Neighbors are left to decide how to deal with it. Call the owners if you can find them? Call the City? Cut the grass?
For answers, Portland residents launched a three-part learning series with the Louisville Metro Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD). Presentations are designed to equip residents with information about VAPs in Portland, explore the programs that citizens can use to address them, and provide time for residents to work together to establish priorities to address the issue.
Habitat’s Community Development & Repair Program partnered with Portland Now, the neighborhood association, to provide this learning series, after the program was so successful in Parkland last year.
| | While there is no silver bullet to transform abandoned properties overnight, some of the most powerful community revitalization happens when neighbors come together to demand change. Habitat believes that everyone deserves to live in a neighborhood that is safe, healthy and thriving. Tackling VAP’s in Portland will go a long way in our neighborhood’s revitalization. | | | Residents have converted troublesome lots to beautiful community space by making use of Landbank programs. As one example we saw in Michigan, above is the before and after photos of the NW Goldberg Cares ART Park in MI. | | |
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville doesn’t just build homes—we also help owner-occupied households stay safe and stable by repairing essential systems like roofs, HVAC, windows, doors, ramps, and more.
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Read the latest CDR eNewsletter here to learn about upcoming classes and other news.
| Volunteer Appreciation Dinner | This year's Volunteer Appreciation Dinner was filled with laughter, gratitude, and a special sense of community! One of the highlights of the evening was our fun game where we asked everyone to stand up, and then, step by step, sat down those who had been volunteering for less and less time. It was heartwarming to see who remained standing the longest—the volunteers who have dedicated years, decades to Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville! | Louisville Business First's Forty Under 40 Class of 2026 | |
Louisville Business First's Forty Under 40 Class of 2026 volunteered for the first day of Raise the Roof at the sponsored Interfaith Build house for Jerome Bigirimana & Anesie Niyikiza!
Thank you, Mile Wide Beer Co., for hosting 40 Under 40 HabiHour! The volunteers and staff had a great night networking and reminiscing about their day of volunteering
| Have you been wanting to volunteer but weren't sure where to start? | |
We have launched a new onboarding orientation for volunteers. The onboarding sessions cover essential details about our mission, important safety guidelines, and how to make the most of your time at a build site.
All new volunteers must attend a virtual orientation (held on the first and third Mondays of each month). Please check the calendar and select the date that works best for you. A Microsoft Teams invite will be sent on the morning of orientation.
Completing orientation ensures you will have all the information and resources you need for a safe and rewarding volunteer experience.
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Plumbing Workshop and Info Session
On August 15, Homebuyer Services (HBS) hosted 28 homebuyers for our monthly workshop: Plumbing Basics. They learned to fix their plumbing with the help of Coy Broderick from Designs by Coy along with eight of our homebuyer advocates.
In the afternoon, HBS returned to the Jane and Jewell Center where Susan Vance, Homebuyer Finance Manager, did a prospective Habitat homebuyer information session to introduce the Habitat Homeownership program as well as how to improve your credit. Forty-two prospective homebuyers left with an application!
If you would like to be a homebuyer advocate and walk a homebuyer through the entire homebuyer process, please email Kathy Kessinger for more details.
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Application Week Success!
We want to thank all Homebuyer Selection Committee members and Advocates who helped us have our most productive application period yet! Last week, we gave out 198 applications and 50 completed applications with all supporting documents were turned in.
The next steps to new homebuyers will begin Sept 3.
| A Few Recent Home Blessings | |
We celebrated a wonderful Raise the Roof and Ground Blessing last week for Ibrahim and Fauzia's new home. Semonin Realtors sponsored their home and had many great volunteers willing to lend them a helping hand.
They look forward to designing and decorating the house together as a family and turning their new space into a place that truly feels like home.
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Andre picked up a brush and made the first stroke of paint on his future home. Andre learned about Habitat for Humanity from a couple of friends who are Habitat homeowners and encouraged him to apply.
The first thing he plans to do in his new home is make it comfortable and truly feel like home, starting with getting his grandson’s room ready.
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Andre's home is in honor of our amazing Community Development Repair volunteer, Katherine Austin, who joined Andre, CDR staff, and her family and friends to paint together.
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We recently celebrated Jerome and Anesie's Raise the Roof alongside the Interfaith sponsors.
For Jerome and Anesie, HOME means "life beginning again, a new start and a new future for their family."
The first thing they plan to do in their new home is pray and thank God for the opportunity, thank Habitat, and then share a big meal with family, friends, and members of their church.
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The legacy you leave starts
with the plans you make today.
| If creating or updating your will has been on your to-do list, there's still time. Through Louisville Habitat's partnership with Giving Docs, you can access free estate planning tools to create a legally valid will and care for both your loved ones and the community you cherish. | | | | | |
