Home of the Innocents to break ground on $75 million expansion of Louisville campus

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Home of the Innocents will break ground on multimillion-dollar expansion of its East Market Street campus next week, increasing its capacity to house more children and young adults.

Officials said they'll break ground on the 75,000-square-foot expansion with legislative leaders and state officials at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 13 at the Louisville campus.

In a news release on Wednesday, leaders said as Kentucky's only medically complex long-term care facility for children, the expansion will give them the ability to increase resident capacity.

The Kentucky General Assembly provided $30 million for the expansion, while Home of the Innocents privately raised $26 million. The nonprofit will continue raising money to meet the $75 million price tag of the expansion.

"This is an incredible milestone for our organization and a major step towards caring for our residents with complex medical needs," Home of the Innocents President and CEO Paul Robinson said in a news release. "Over 30% of young adult residents who have lived with us, sometimes for their whole lives, have nowhere to go when they turn 21 years old. Many nursing facilities only accept residents who are 55 and older."

The project will add 50 beds, allowing residents to stay past the age of 21 and also increase capacity for more kids.

Officials said construction is expected to take about two years with additional capacity coming in phases. When finished, leaders said Home of the Innocents will have a 126-medically complex bed capacity to serve medically complex children and young adults from across Kentucky. The nonprofit said there are 12,000 Kentucky kids who meet medical requirements to live in a nursing facility and need care.

To learn more about Home of the Innocents, click here.

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