Making memories at St. Joe’s picnic for the kids
S T. J O S E P H C H I L D R E N ’ S H O M E O F F E R S A WIDE RANGE OF PROGRAMS today were removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect. Once a case of abuse or For more than a century and a half, St. Joseph neglect has been investigated by authorities, Children’s Home has been a part of Louisville. a child will be removed from their home and One of the city’s oldest institutions, the placed temporarily in the custody of a state home has been a fixture of the Crescent Hill social worker. community for generations, and is a hidden jewel of the city’s history. St. Joseph used to Christina says the state of Kentucky is be located on Liberty Street, and in 1885 number one in the nation for abuse and moved to its current, 70,000-square-foot neglect. location on Frankfort Avenue. “People don’t want to talk or think about When St. Joseph was first established as an children being abused, or who’ve been hurt orphanage nearly two centuries ago, children and have nowhere to live,” Christina says. most commonly lived at the home due to “It’s natural for people to avoid talking about economic hardship, war time or disease uncomfortable topics unless they’ve gone epidemics. Communications Director through that experience themselves. So how Christina Miller says the home has evolved to do we get the community to care enough to meet the current needs of the community. at least sit down and listen? Kids are healing here but what we want most is to connect She says the children who reside at the home them with their forever family.” Writer / Kelsey Schneider
MARCH 2020
In 2015 St. Joseph Children’s Home joined The Face It® movement, which seeks to end child abuse and neglect once and for all. “We currently have three core programs residential treatment, therapeutic foster care and adoption, and the child development center, which serves close to 350 children, infant to 21 years old, annually across programs,” Christina says. The residential treatment program is home to 48 children who live on campus while waiting to be placed back into a home setting such as a foster home or a relative’s home. The children receive intensive individual and group therapy, and participate in an array of therapeutic activities like yoga, a bike club, and a hip hop dance class.
