LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new affordable housing development is coming to West Louisville but there's more to the project than just housing.
"This is something we've been trying to do since 2006," said Aileen Bryant-Wales, founder and president of Ladies of Promise.
A more than a decade's long dream, now being built upon.
"We heard their cry, we heard their voice," Bryant-Wales said.
What sits as an open lot will soon be a 52-unit, multi-million dollar development that will offer services for education, addiction, daycare, counseling and other areas of need.
"One thing I know being in recovery myself, having to come out of a center and going back to where you were, that sets you up for failure," Bryant-Wales said. "If you just had some place to go to the homeless, if I just had some place to go to, I could call my own."
Governor Andy Beshear joined Bryant-Wales and other community members for the groundbreaking.
He says to see what will soon be a one stop shop for all Louisvillians is inspiring to him.
"Making sure that when somebody comes in with one help that they need, they can get multiple other forms that we wrap our arms around an individual that's fallen down, and we help get them back up," Beshear said.
Alisia Richardson, a Lady of Promise graduate, now owns her own construction company and will play a major role in the build, saying it feels like a full circle moment for her.
"This is truly the change for you, when people speak of being the change that you want to see, this is what that looks like," Richardson said.
For Bryant-Wales, she says she's happy she never gave up.
"If I had to talk to Aileen of the past, the one that was drowning in addiction. If I had to look at her in her face as she was standing right here, I would say to her, thank you for not giving up," Bryant-Wales said.
The project is expected to be completed towards September of 2023.
For more information on the requirements and plans for the development, you can contact Ladies of Promise by clicking here.
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