$2.5 Million Gift Continues Sisters’ Work for Housing Equity

In the 1970s members of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth were arrested for tearing down a dilapidated building in the city’s West End to call attention to the lack of affordable housing.

Some four decades later, the sisters are still working toward housing equity in that community.

The congregation announced June 18 a $2.5 million dollar gift to the Louisville Urban League’s (Louisville, KY) “A Path Forward for Louisville” project. The Louisville Urban League’s mission is to help African Americans and those on the margins attain social and economic equality and stability through direct services and advocacy.

The gift will be used to renovate 50 vacant and abandoned homes into affordable rental units over the next three years.

The sisters presented Sadiqa Reynolds, President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, with a $750,000 check during the press conference. That money will fund the renovation of 15 homes.

The remainder of the gift will be transferred after the first 15 houses are renovated, said Sister Adeline Fehribach, one of the vice presidents of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

Sister Fehribach said a lack of affordable housing has been an issue in the West End for a long time.

“Anyone who’s lived in Metro Louisville knows of the difficulties in the West End in terms of violence and lack of affordable housing. What people don’t know is why,” said Sister Fehribach during an interview June 21.

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