More than a quarter of a million children across all of Kentucky and southern Indiana will benefit from grants awarded by the Kosair for Kids Board of Directors. The recently approved funding will become available on October 1, the start of Fiscal Year 2025. Our region’s most comprehensive children’s charity has promised nearly $12 million to partners who will provide life-changing assistance to children through healthcare, research, education, social services, and child advocacy.
For 101 years, Kosair for Kids has been the catalyst for helping all children live life to the fullest. This year is no exception. With grants from $2,500 to $2 million and ranging from helping disadvantaged youth learn life skills to groundbreaking medical research, this financial assistance delivers on the Kosair for Kids’ promise to spread more joy, care, and hope than ever before.
“We are so blessed that we can help 100 partners meet the immense needs of children through this year’s grants,” said Kosair for Kids President Barry Dunn. “The Board of Directors did an outstanding job maximizing the impact of each dollar allocated.”
Last year, Kosair for Kids helped improve the lives of 260,948 children through Kosair Kids Grants. Dunn hopes to benefit at least that many children through these grants.
Home of the Innocents is awarded $2 million to expand and update the Kosair for Kids Complex Care Center, Kentucky’s only pediatric skilled nursing facility and home to 76 of the state’s most medically complex children. It renews the promise made in 2001 when Kosair for Kids announced $6.25 million for Home of the Innocents to acquire and move to their 20-acre children’s village.
Americana World Community Center in Louisville will use its $10,000 to support the educational success of school-aged low-income youth, both foreign and US-born. The homework help and tutoring, creative arts and self-expression, and mental health support and counseling programs funded by this grant will empower this underserved population and brighten the futures of children yearning to live life to the fullest.
VIPS (Visually Impaired Preschool Services) is the only agency in Kentucky and Indiana that provides early intervention and educational programming to children from birth to five years old who are blind or visually impaired. Its $175,000 grant funds an early childhood intervention program and Kids Town, a campus designed to give visually impaired children real-world experiences in a child-sized city. These crucial programs directly impact the future trajectory of their students by teaching language, communication, fine and gross motor, and social-emotional skills.
Helping children grieve from trauma is vital to healing and preventing obstacles. Camberwell Grief Sanctuary in Trimble County reports that the need to serve low-income children and families has dramatically increased due to natural disasters, illness, and violence. The board awarded this organization $15,000 for a unique children’s cottage for grief-impacted youth to engage in healing play, conversations, and mentoring. The space will be the first of its kind in the region.
Here is the complete list of this year’s Kosair for Kids grantees:
Academy for Individual Excellence $ 95,000
Allegro Dance Project $ 2,500
Americana World Community Center, Inc. $ 10,000
Archdiocese of Louisville $ 22,676
Backside Learning Center $ 15,000
Barren Heights $ 5,000
BAYA Corporation $ 20,000
Big Brother Big Sisters of Kentuckiana $ 60,000
Bluegrass Center for Autism $ 217,500
Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana $ 100,000
Bree's Blessings, Inc. $ 7,500
Camberwell Grief Sanctuary $ 15,000
Camp Quality Kentuckiana $ 25,000
CASA of the Heartland, Inc. $ 15,000
CASA of the River Region Advocacy $ 100,000
Children's Advocacy Centers of Kentucky $ 75,000
Child's Spirit, Inc. $ 6,000
Christopher 2X Game Changers Inc. $ 130,000
Critically Loved $ 10,000
Dare to Care, Inc. $ 82,500
DCCH Center for Children and Families $ 10,000
Donate Life Kentucky Trust $ 100,000
Dorman Preschool Center $ 25,000
Down Syndrome Association of Central Kentucky, Inc. $ 2,500
Down Syndrome of Louisville $ 342,000
Dreams With Wings, Inc. $ 55,000
Duchenne Research Education and Miracle Fdt., Inc. $ 150,000
Epilepsy Foundation of Kentuckiana $ 50,000
Exploited Children's Help Organization $ 77,000
Family and Children's Place $ 100,000
Family Community Clinic, Inc. $ 50,000
Family Enrichment Center $ 50,250
Family Health Centers $ 10,000
Family Nurturing Center of Kentucky $ 50,000
Father Maloney's Boys & Girls Haven $ 100,000
Gilda's Club Kentuckiana $ 100,000
Green Hill Therapy $ 200,000
Heuser Hearing & Language Academy $ 241,500
Heuser Hearing Institute $1,000,000 ($ 200,000 per year for 5 years)
Home of the Innocents $2,000,000 ($ 500,000 per year for 4 years)
Hope Health Clinic $ 10,000
Horsin' Around Camp, Inc dba Camp Horsin' Around $ 10,000
Hosparus Health $ 45,000
Huntington's Disease Society of America- Kentucky Chapter $ 15,000
J.O.Y. Ministries $ 15,000
Jefferson Co Search Dog Association $ 10,576
Jewish Community of Louisville, Inc $ 10,000
Jewish Family and Career Services $ 15,000
Kentucky CASA Network $ 74,340
Louisville Ballet $ 50,000
Kentucky Diabetes Camp for Children, Inc. dba Camp Hendon Camp Hendon $ 15,000
Kentucky Hemophilia Foundation, Inc. $ 80,000
Kentucky Kids on the Block $ 26,904
Kentucky School for the Blind Charitable Foundation $ 25,555
Kentucky Sheriffs' Boys Ranch Trust $ 6,000
Kentucky Youth Advocates $ 773,000
Kids Cancer Alliance, Inc. $ 30,000
Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies $ 560,000
Kosair Shrine Center $ 91,400
Carriage House Educational Services $100,000
La Casita Center $ 20,000
Life Adventure Center $ 30,000
Lighthouse Academy at Newburg $ 8,500
Little Light House Central Kentucky $ 25,000
Louisville Metro Police Foundation $ 48,000
Maryhurst, Inc. $ 30,000
Masonic Homes of Kentucky, Inc. $ 250,000
Mercy Health Lourdes $ 38,457
Meredith-Dunn School $ 75,000
Miracle League of Louisville $ 24,000
Nativity Academy at St. Boniface $ 25,000
Neighborhood House $ 25,000
Ohio Falls Holiness Association dba Silver Heights Camp & Retreat Center $ 25,000
Operation Care, Inc. $ 8,085
Orchid House, Inc. $ 40,000
Pikeville Medical Center $ 41,833
Buckhorn Child and Family Services $ 22,000
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana, Inc. $ 100,000
Safe Passage $ 50,000
Shively Area Ministries $ 35,000
Shriners Children's Ohio $ 15,815
Shriners Children’s Lexington $ 250,000
Shriners International Education Foundation $ 123,000
South Louisville Community Ministries $ 15,000
Special Olympics Kentucky, Inc. $ 7,900
Spina Bifida Association of KY $ 30,000
St. Joseph Children's Home $ 100,000
Summit Academy $ 175,000
Supporting Heroes $ 10,000
The Cabbage Patch Settlement House $ 15,000
The Center of Owensboro-Daviess County, Inc. $ 50,000
The de Paul School $ 20,000
The REATH Center $ 9,200
TIGER Foundation $ 85,000
Uniting Partners (UP) for Women and Children $10,000
UofL Hospital Frazier Pediatric Rehabilitation Program at Mary & Elizabeth Hospital $ 500,000
University of Kentucky Division of Pediatric Forensic Medicine $ 475,000
University of Louisville Pediatric NeuroRecovery Program $1,000,000 ($ 333,334 per year for 3 years)
Visually Impaired Preschool Services $ 175,000
First Tee $ 35,000