FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Dolli Neikirk,
Lifehouse Maternity Home,
dneikirk@lifehouselouisville.org,
502-897-1655
Lifehouse Maternity Home Wins National Award and $100,000 for Community Initiative
LOUISVILLE, K.Y. (June 20, 2019) — Lifehouse Maternity Home, a Louisville non-profit organization providing program participantsial compassionate care for high-risk pregnant women and teens and their babies, has received the 27th annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award and a $100,000 cash award. The Premier Cares Award recognizes exemplary efforts by not-for-profit community organizations to improve the health of populations in need. The award celebrates and supports Lifehouse Maternity Home’s program participantial program in providing maternal support and services.
Lifehouse uses a unique and individualized approach to help pregnant women and teens improve multiple facets of their lives so they deliver healthy babies and gain the necessary skills to live productive, independent lives. Beginning with the most basic needs of food, clothing and housing, Lifehouse expands into life-skills training that involves goal-setting, personal financial training/planning, educational assistance, and job search/placement. Lifehouse program participants attend parenting classes, counseling services, and the staff ensures they receive essential prenatal, postpartum, and pediatric medical care.
Lifehouse serves as many as 24 mothers and babies, who can live at Lifehouse for up to four years. As a part of the ecumenical, Christ-centered program participantial home, Lifehouse employs 15 House Mothers, who rotate staffing Lifehouse 24/7, 365 days a year. House Mothers support the mothers and their babies daily, ensuring that everyone is on schedule, personal issues are being addressed, and the environment is loving, comfortable and safe.
“The women and teens entering Lifehouse are some of the most marginalized and under-served members of society,” said Dolli Neikirk, Executive Director, Lifehouse Maternity Home. “Our mission is to provide support, education and structure for our program participants to develop the skills and tools they need to live a happy, spiritually fulfilled life. Lifehouse has served women from as far away as Maine and as far south as Florida and Texas. The need is great not only in Louisville, but throughout the country. We are so thankful to Premier for recognizing the life-saving work of Lifehouse Maternity Home. The Premier Cares Award will allow us to begin working toward our vision of replicating the Lifehouse program in other communities. Our organization receives no government funding and relies on grants and the generosity of individuals to invest in the lives of mothers and babies who reside at Lifehouse. The support of our community is vitally important for us to continue to serve mothers and babies in crisis.”
More information can be found on the Lifehouse website, www.lifehouselouisville.org, including the video produced by Premier as a part of the Cares Award. Lifehouse hosts Lunch and Learns on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Lunch and Learns are open to the public and include a complimentary lunch and a tour of Lifehouse. Please call 502-897-1655 to make a reservation.
About the Premier Cares Award
Premier has presented the Cares Award annually since 1991, when it was created by Dr. Monroe E. Trout, former CEO of American Healthcare Systems, one of Premier’s heritage organizations. The program has provided more than $3 million to more than 100 organizations nationwide. The competition is open to not-for-profit affiliates and members of Premier that have been in existence for more than two years, are providing creative solutions to health status improvement, can provide documentation of outcomes and impact on a specific population, and have programs that can be replicated in other communities.
About Lifehouse Maternity Home
Lifehouse is a program participantial program addressing the spiritual, physical emotional, and intellectual needs of pregnant and parenting women and teens in crisis by transforming their lives through the healing touch of Christ. The program serves women and teens from throughout the country, offering the basic necessities of food and shelter, while ensuring program participants receive vital prenatal and medical care, parenting and life skills, counseling, education, and job opportunities.
