About the Home
Established in 1880, Home of the Innocents enriches the lives of children and families with hope, health, and happiness. Programs include residential and community-based behavioral health services, therapeutic foster care and adoption services, supportive services for young adults experiencing homelessness, and long-term care for children with complex medical needs.
Thanks to our many supporters, we operate world-class facilities that impact children’s lives throughout our region.
The Home really is the heart of our city.
Purpose and Vision
Home of the Innocents enriches the lives of children and families with hope, health, and happiness.
Home of the Innocents strengthens Kentucky by building partnerships, challenging systems, and reimagining the way we care for families. Our commitment to learning drives our belief in family-focused care. We are a values-focused employer of choice for a mission-driven workforce.
Values
Compassion
Providing grace, empathy, and understanding to all people regardless of our differences
Wellness
Achieving a mental and physical health balance that optimizes the potential of all
Empowerment
Leading by example, with respect, to help each other find our strength, build confidence, and embrace growth
Excellence
Striving to be the best through commitments to high-quality service provision, accountability, and personal growth
Strategies
- Elevate the quality of care
- Create solutions for rising acuity levels
- Deliver modern technology solutions to enable data-driven decisions
- Develop influence to advocate for positive change for children and families
- Foster an inclusive and values-led workforce
- Build a culture of learning
- Drive stakeholder investment to achieve financial strength
History
The Home was founded in 1880 by Dr. James Taylor Helm, Episcopalian minister of Christ Church in Louisville. In 1972 we moved to a facility at 505 East Chestnut Street. Soon after, we took over child care programs previously run by the County government, and pediatric services formerly provided by the Jewish Home for Convalescent Children.
After more than a century of modest growth, the Home then expanded rapidly between 1995 and 2015.
That expansion was made possible primarily through the creation of the Joan E. Thomas Children’s Village in 2003. The 20-acre village, located in what we now call NuLu, provides sufficient space and amenities to enable the Home to accommodate the needs of our community’s vulnerable children.
As the Home now approaches one-and-a-half centuries of providing care, hope, and love for our society’s most vulnerable, we offer care and assistance to more than 10,000 children and families.
The Home has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Yet our mission remains the same.