In July of 2015, Merryman House embarked upon a new journey to help Save, Build, and Change even more lives in western Kentucky. And in July 2019, generous friends and supporters helped complete it.
This endeavor consisted of a community-wide effort to raise $3.7 million for a new 36-bed Merryman House emergency shelter, complete with surrounding administration and outreach/counseling service buildings, an industrial kitchen and dining room, meeting rooms and more.
Over a span of four years, federal grants, support from private foundations, partnerships with various organizations, and many, many generous donations have pushed the Merryman House to our Capital Campaign goal.
“We built this together,” Executive Director Mary Foley says. “This campus is a testament to the commitment of our community to Save, Build and Change Lives. ‘There’s a Place for You’ was our campaign slogan, and even now that the campaign is over, it is still true for our community and for survivors. There is STILL a Place for You.”
Although the project wasn’t completely funded until recently, the facility opened in December of 2017 and it has completely changed the scope of Merryman House’s services. Since the new campus opened, we have served thousands of trauma survivors from the eight-county Purchase Region. And you, our generous supporters and partners, made it all possible.
“The new facility has changed life at the center,” Mary says. “From the things that seem small—like going from having three bathrooms for all of our clients and staff to having multiple buildings—to the big things—like having more beds and space to accommodate more survivors—to being able to expand our services and staff in almost every way, all the way to increased revenue! And now, there is this much broader sense of community access. This is the community’s campus. The community put us here!”
And, in honor of that community, thank you to all of our partners for helping us reach the Capital Campaign goal. Your generosity—and that of everyone who donated— is helping to Saved, Built, and Change more lives in western Kentucky.
