Letter From Our Executive Director
St. John Center opened 35 years ago because hundreds of Louisvillians opened their hearts to the people they encountered on the streets. Those asking for help, those broken by war, those struggling to make ends meet.
We didn’t set out to stick around like this. The thinking at the time was that citizens all over the country would muster enough political will to create adequate affordable housing supply and support systems to meet the growing demand. But, as a community and a country, we did not respond in kind to the need. So here we are – April of 1986, when we opened our doors, and April 2021 look woefully similar.
The hearts of St. John Center volunteers and staff, having been broken open, made a long-haul commitment to the people we serve. Our never, never, never, never, never give up approach guides us to this day as we believe in and advocate for the people we serve. That long-haul commitment manifests today in our Street Outreach, Day Shelter & Social Services Center, and Permanent Supportive Housing programs.
Glen said it best when he told us, “You have loved me better than my family ever could.” He was a shelter guest for many years, using our services to get through the day and connect to people who cared for him. He was thrilled to join our Permanent Supportive Housing program, moving from homelessness to housing of his own. He genuinely believed, though, that he would eventually be evicted, like he had many times before when he tried on his own. Whether using or in recovery, whether seeking psychiatric care or not, St. John Center stood by Glen and helped him maintain his housing. He was amazed with St. John Center’s commitment and said, “You are always in my corner. Thank you for loving me especially when I couldn’t love myself.”
When I reflect on the fiscal year behind us, I can’t help but marvel at the strides we made toward accessing permanent housing for a record number of our homeless neighbors. We can’t go back, as an agency or a community. Let’s use this recent community success to fuel progress going forward. Let’s expand our scope by increasing the kinds of affordable, supportive housing we are able to provide those who need it most. An enduring commitment demands it of us. Lives depend on it. We signed up for nothing less.
Maria Price
Executive Director, September 2008 – September 2021
FY 2021: Highlights and Questions
Street Outreach (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021)
919
families or individuals were connected to 4,048 services by the Street Outreach Team
74
families or individuals served by Street Outreach moved off the streets and into permanent housing
31
different Louisville zip codes were reported as the most recent residence of those served by Street Outreach
Day Shelter and Social Services Center (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021)
1,832
people visited the Day Shelter and Social Services Center 37,304 times
273
shelter guests moved off the streets and into permanent housing
95%
of shelter guests used social and support services in addition to accessing basic shelter, shower, phone, and mail services
10%
of Day Shelter and Social Services Center guests were veterans
71
shelter guests moved off Day Shelter guests increased their income as a result of 765 coordinated employment services and 73 Legal Aid services
556
Day Shelter and Social Services Center guests received 2,443 housing services
Permanent Supportive Housing (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021)
92
people participated in the Permanent Supportive Housing program
59%
of those in Permanent Supportive Housing gained or maintained income
98%
of those in Permanent Supportive Housing retained their housing for 12 months or longer
273
As we review an unusually challenging year at St. John Center, we cannot help but celebrate 273.
This number represents success against incredible odds – not for St. John Center – but for 273 men and women who moved home for good. We celebrate the resilience, determination, and dignity of every person – these 273 who moved into permanent housing as well as the over 1,800 who came to our shelter, the over 900 individuals and families we met through Street Outreach, and all who still need a safe, affordable, and supportive place to live.
273 represents the fierce dedication of our remarkable Street Outreach, Day Shelter, and Permanent Supportive Housing staff who masked up and showed up every day, all year long despite uncertainty and fatigue and fear. We celebrate these amazing people who would not let even a pandemic stop them from moving people home.
Finally, 273 represents the power of partnerships and collaborations to expand resources. Last year, the Louisville Metro Housing Authority made new housing vouchers available to ensure that elderly and ill people without housing had an opportunity to be Healthy at Home. We celebrate community partnership and the certainty that whenever new housing resources are available, St. John Center will use it to move people home.
And yet…
We Have Questions
Even as we celebrate 273 more people in permanent housing last fiscal year — we know that for far too many, permanent housing is still out of reach. We also know that safe, affordable housing can be the difference between life and death. The pandemic made life even more tenuous for the people who have multiple physical disabilities, who have experienced high levels of trauma, who have compounding mental disabilities including traumatic brain injuries, and those who struggle with substance use disorder.
Last year, we lost beloved clients to drug overdoses, to dramatically failing physical and mental health, and to the turmoil of moving again and again because their available housing options did not provide enough daily support. And each time we asked this question: Would safe, stable housing have saved this precious life?
We also asked ourselves, our elected leaders, our local partners, national experts, and our clients a lot of questions:
What kind of housing would allow SJC to offer daily wellness checks to the most vulnerable clients in housing?
Would clients who struggle with memory loss and traumatic brain injuries be more likely to remember where their apartments are if there were someone there to greet them by name every time they returned to the building?
Could clients who struggle to set limits be more successful if all guests had to sign in and out at a front desk?
Would clients who struggle with loneliness and substance use do better if support staff were onsite 24 hours a day to talk to them before they went out to buy liquor or drugs?
Each time a client lost housing somewhere in our community we asked:
What kind of supportive services could have made a difference?
How should they be delivered?
What will it take to create the housing that supports the hardest to house clients so that they can move home for good?
In FY 2021, St. John Center celebrated the 273 people who moved into housing. We saw that new housing resources combined with a staff that just won’t stop working until everyone has a place to call home were the formula for success. And we acknowledged that we have to do more.
As we look into the new fiscal year, St. John Center is poised to advocate for new housing resources that will be the difference between permanent housing and the cycle of homelessness. We envision housing that provides 24-hour, wrap around support services for the very most vulnerable people in our community. We envision a day when we no longer grieve lives lost to the lack of safe, affordable, and supportive housing. And we know this vision is possible — because you are with us.
Thank you.
Financial Information: FY 2021
Our Partners: FY 2021
| Bridgehaven |
| CARAT (Coordinating Assisting the Reuse of Assistive Technology) |
| Catholic Charities |
| Christian Care Communities |
| Coalition for the Homeless |
| Family Health Center Phoenix Common Assessment Team |
| Free to Hope |
| Glenmary Homes |
| Goodwill of Kentucky |
| House of Ruth |
| Jeff Street Baptist Church |
| Jefferson County Clerks Office |
| Keep Louisville Warm |
| Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition |
| Kept, Inc. |
| LEAD Program |
| Legal Aid Society |
| Louisville Metro Health Department |
| Metro Louisville Government Department of Resiliency and Commuity Services |
| New Directions Housing Corp. |
| Peace Hospital |
| Safe Place |
| Schumann Center |
| Seed to Oaks |
| Seven Counties Services |
| ShelterWorks |
| UK/ Metro Louisville Health Department Syringe Exchange |
| Talbot House |
| Transit Authority of River City |
| Uniting Partners for Women and Children (UP) |
| University of Louisville Hospital Emergency Room and Emergency Psychiatric Services |
| University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work |
| Veterans Administration |
| Wellspring |
| Women of the Well |
Board of Directors: FY 2021
Russell Smith, Chair
Realtor, Kentucky Select Properties
Anne-Britton Arnett, Vice Chair
VP, Information Mgt and Analytics, Humana
Mark Metcalf, Treasurer
CPA, Mariner Wealth Advisors
Lauren Wernert, Secretary
Benefits Manager, Confluent Health
Tomas Aguilera
Construction Management Consultant
Jessica Bartell
VP, Provider Relations, OptumRX
Thomas Bell
IT, Papa John’s
Matt Berrian
CPA, BKD,LLP
Susanne Binford
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Julie Boatright
Chief of Staff, Central Division, Humana
John Desmarais
Senior Director, Retail Nat’l Accts, GE Appliances, A Haier Company
Ricardo Goodin
Case Manager, Phoenix Health Center
Paul Hatfield
Retired engineer, SJC shelter volunteer
Amanda Hunter
Account Executive, WDRB media
Ryan Hyman
Director of IT, Renew Recovery
Andy Kaelin
Loan Review Officer II, Republic Bank
Whitney King
Housing Program Specialist ,Louisville Metro Dept. of Housing and Community Dev.
Don Kavanaugh
Retired; IT Volunteer
Phani Konduru
Vice President and Chief Enterprise Architect, Humana
Brian Mangan
Manager, Care Mgt & Clinical Effectiveness, Norton Healthcare
Sally Seay
Relationship Manager Commercial Banking, SYB
Smith Rodes
Housing development researcher
Brandon Rodgers
Senior Analyst, Retail Operations, Constellation Energy
Tom Simms
Attorney, English Law Office
Danielle Wakaba
Assessor, Seven Counties Services
Roy Welch
Attorney, Welch Law Office
Susan Buchino, Immediate Past Chair
Asst Professor, UL School of Public Health & Info Sci
Sr. Mary Kathleen Sheehan, SCN
Director Emeritus
Staff: FY 2021
Street Outreach
TJ Martin
Outreach Manager
Jamie Bush
Outreach Worker
Vernon Nixon
Outreach Worker
Carrie Dorton
Peer Outreach Worker
Robert Sutton
Peer Outreach Worker
Tiny Herron-Markwell
Outreach Worker
Day Shelter and Social Services Center
Cortney Foster
Day Shelter Manager
Wright Gordon
Safety and Services Specialist
Shannon Frey
Volunteer Coordinator
Keesha Gardner
Employment Specialist
Tom Parmenter
Housing Counselor
Chris Tonini
Housing Navigator
Robin Ash
Shelter Case Manager
Elgin Bullock
Safety and Services Aide
Raymond Schafer
Safety and Services Aide
Rebecca Harpring
Safety and Services Aide
Ella Franklin
Safety and Services Aide
Permanent Supportive Housing
Sarah Buckler
Supportive Housing Manager
Amanda Hay
Housing Case Manager
James Alexander
Housing Case Manager
Laura Farkas-Bowser
Housing Case Manager
Whit Stodghill
Housing Case Manager
Greg Capillo
Housing Case Manager
Emmanuel Fonlupt
Housing Peer Specialist, AmeriCorps
Building Services
Decorick Curry
Custodian
Kevin Branham
Custodian
Zorrika Sims
Custodian
Administration
Maria Price
Executive Director
Mary Luke Noonan
Associate Director
Tracie Utter
Director of Finance and Personnel Management
Jane Walsh
Director of Mission Advancement
Mary Leigh Brown
Bookkeeper/Office Manager
Jim Fulkerson
Community Relationship Coordinator, AmeriCorps VISTA
Nicole Mantilla
Accounts Payable Accountant
Karen Morris
Grants Administrator
Gail Nall
Grants and Data Coordinator
Jane Tyler
Grants Administrator and Finance Assistant
Jenn Young
Special Events Coordinator
Volunteers: FY 2021
Rebecca Abell
Jacqueline Aceto
Bobbi Andriakos
Julie Boatright
Thomas Bowman
Molly Brewer
Jeff Brown
Kathie Buchino
Mary Ann Carlisle
Susan Carpenter
Phil Clore
Dave Cooper
Pam Crandal
Annie Darst
Zenda Davenport
John Dickens
Bill Donovan
Collette Dumstorf
Tom Flaherty
Brian Fockler
Cathy Ford
Heather Fox
Anthony Frazier
Janet Gerber
Barbara Gray
Sr. Agnes Hagan
DuWayne Hamilton
Becca Hamrin
Paul Hatfield
Dan Hartlage
Tom Herman
Erik Duff
Dallas Jacobson
Jeb Jarrell
Kristi Jedlicki
Christina Jones
Kyung Kang
Dick Kaukas
Don Kavanaugh
Sr. Eva Kowalski
Natalie Laurence
Patty Laurence
Bill Lepping
Steve Levy
Jane Lockard
Bob Lockhart
Jonathan Lowe
Jack Lydon
Ra’Shann Martin
Jeannie McNatt
David Meyer
Woody Miller
Allan Mitchell
Sandra Mlinarcik
Chris Mueller
Marty Burke Murphy
Mike Ngong
Bill Nieport
Aggie Noonan
Pat Numann
Paul Olberz
Abby Perez
Randy Peters
Marie Pierce
Sheree Porter
Christopher Preu
Dave Puckett
Mary Ann Puckett
Stephen Quinkert
Michelle Redmon
Sandy Reed
Ronald Reesor
Smith Rodes
Don Ruark
Jack Russell
Jonathan Rymer
Bill Sanders
Sherley Sample
Jon Sanders
Mary Schmidt
Geoff Schwartz
Betty Senn
Prafula Sheth
Thomas Simms
Fred Sims
Will Southall
Nick Stouffer
Phil Sullivan
Carole Sutton
Kevin Thieneman
Roselle Taylor
Pat Thomas
Sarah Van Heiden
Russ Vandenbrouke
Charles Walsh
Rita Ward
Ed Weyler
John Wheatley
Vicki Zurlage