They weren’t just electricians, plumbers, or drywall installers—they were neighbors, problem-solvers, and community builders answering a call far greater than any blueprint. In a city grappling with a deepening housing crisis, no one understands the urgency more than those who construct its homes. And now, these skilled hands are coming together to do what they do best: build hope for Louisville’s most vulnerable.
Members of the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville came together to renovate 12 efficiency apartments for The Healing Place, an effort spearheaded by the Building Industry Charitable Foundation. The apartments, located in The Healing Place’s new recovery center in the Brady Center at 1000 West Market St., will serve as a refuge for those who have undergone treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, and are beginning to navigate their return to a self-directed life. “The Building Industry Association has jumped in, and it’s been transformative,” said John-Mark Hack, President and CEO of The Healing Place.
Building on that momentum, Juva Barber, Executive Vice President of the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville,emphasized the organization’s broader mission.“We believe in housing for everybody, and this is one way in which we’re trying to help the community overall,” said Juva. “I can’t begin to account for the amount of man hours and materials that our members have donated. This is a way for us to partner with the community, and make sure we’re serving an unmet need.”
That spirit of service was echoed by Ryan Band, President of the Building Industry Charitable Foundation, who sees community involvement as a core reason for his own engagement.“As a member of BIA, we do a lot of advocacy work. But another big area is what we’re doing at The Healing Place. We have lots of opportunities to give back to our community, and that’s why I’m involved in the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville,” said Ryan Band, President of the Building Industry Charitable Foundation.
Painting, plumbing and drywall
The charitable arm of the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville, the Building Industry Charitable Foundation was founded as a nonprofit in 2006, to help fund and construct projects that would benefit the community. Its earliest endeavors involved building large, elaborate playhouses for children’s charities, but over time it fine-tuned its mission and began to focus on what builders and tradespeople do best—build homes.
Those projects have focused on transforming homes to better serve families supporting children with disabilities—installing ramps, widening doorways, and creating spaces that are safe and accessible for mobility aids like wheelchairs and walkers. More recently, the team remodeled a bathroom for an aging military veteran, enabling him to safely navigate his home and maintain his independence.
“The foundation has been involved in making peoples’ homes better, so they can live in them longer,” Barber said. “I truly believe we’re put here to help people, and our members love being able to use their skills to do just that. You don’t realize the impact of something like electrical work until you need it and can’t afford it. Our members are able to use their skills to make an immediate impact on somebody.”
That’s evident at The Healing Place, where Corrigan Electric, Century Entertainment and Furnishings, Jenkins Plumbing, PC Home Stores, Advance Drywall Inc., Simpson Builders, RJ Thieneman, and Jaha Homes are among the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville members donating time, money and material to the project. The 12 renovated units, part of a larger 36-apartment structure within the Brady Center, will be completed by September 15, 2025.
“Everyone deserves a safe place to call home,” Barber said. “Our members stepped up across the board—painters primed and painted every room, carpenters installed cabinets, plumbers handled the piping, electricians wired the units, and drywallers finished the walls. Together, we brought these apartments up to standard so they could truly serve as a place of refuge and recovery.”
A ’transformational’ project
The Healing Place has been an institution in Louisville since 1989, when 13 doctors and five community leaders took over operation of an overnight shelter and began to use social and medical outreach to address homelessness in the city. Substance abuse recovery programs soon followed, and The Healing Place now provides food, shelter, clothing and recovery programs to over 1,000 men and women each day.
It was the shelter element of that effort that struck such a chord with the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville. Several of the association’s members had already been involved with The Healing Place, Barber said, and they approached the Building Industry board about accessing Building Industry Charitable Foundation funds for a larger project to benefit the organization and the people it serves.
“This is a transformational project that’s going to have a long-term impact on the community,” Barber said. “For those individuals who have completed the program at The Healing Place, these apartments will help them get back on their feet when it’s hardest for them to find housing. It will give them an affordable, easy to manage place to live, and it will diminish one of the biggest challenges that people face when they're reentering society.”
While there’s potential for Building Industry members to renovate additional units at the recovery center, the association prioritized getting the first 12 apartments ready as quickly as possible. It’s a direct response to the housing challenges faced daily by Louisville’s builders—who understand better than anyone the urgent need for safe, accessible housing in the community.
“Our members have always been involved in the community. This is a long-standing organization—we've been around since the ’40s, and many of our members feel responsible for building Louisville,” Barber said. “We’re very community oriented. Our members live here, send their kids to school here, and want the community to thrive.”
Are you interested in learning more about the Building Industry Charitable Foundation and the causes it supports? Make a donation through their online portal, or visit their webpage at BIALouisville.com/BICF for further information.
