LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kristy Love Foundation unveiled a new facility, marking a major expansion in its mission to help survivors of human trafficking, addiction, and mental illness.
The new recovery center opened over the weekend just off Dixie Highway on East Rockford Lane near Pleasure Ridge Park. It will offer housing, therapy, job training, and other wraparound services for individuals on the path to healing.
Melissa Lueloff knows what it means to hit rock bottom and live to tell the story.
“This program just helps bring us back to life,” said Melissa Lueloff, a person in recovery who credits the foundation with saving her life after years of struggling with substance abuse.
“I've had relapse after relapse after relapse,” Lueloff said. “That was my death bed -- could have been.”
After overdosing last year, Lueloff said she’s sober and has found stability and a career. “I am now the manager at Speedway. I've been there since I've gotten clean,” she said. “It’s one step at a time.”
Angela Renfro, executive director of the Kristy Love Foundation, knows the journey firsthand. “Kristy Love came from my pimp,” Renfro said, explaining the name she uses today was once a tool of her exploitation. She has since reclaimed it as a symbol of resilience.
“For me, it’s a recovery center. Just like when you have surgery, you go to a recovery room. This is surgery of the spirit,” she said. “New heart, clean on the inside, clean on the outside.”
Renfro has dedicated more than two decades to helping others recover, and now oversees multiple homes serving both women and men.
“I believe that no matter how hard you fall, you get back up,” she said. “They looking at a prime example.”
In addition to housing, the Kristy Love Foundation offers food assistance, therapy, and community support. She said anyone can get help at the center.
“We have two therapists that volunteer with us. We also give out Dare to Care [food], we’ve got a food closet—and a whole lot of love,” Renfro said.
The foundation says the new facility will allow it to serve more people than ever before, providing not just shelter or food—but what many survivors need most: hope.
More top stories:
Louisville police arrest 3 after 'street takeover' on Bardstown Road early Sunday
Public input sought as Kentucky prepares for 502 area code change
York statue in downtown Louisville damaged by saw, police say
After 10 years, first conviction in Crystal Rogers' murder brings hope for justice to Bardstown
Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
