Patchwork & Partnership: ChooseWell Communities' Response to the Housing Crisis
How ChooseWell Is Responding to the Housing Crisis—And Why We Need You
In the face of an indefinite pause in voucher access, ChooseWell Communities is doing what we’ve always done: adapting. Supporting families in early recovery requires flexibility, creativity, and an unshakeable belief that transformation is possible—even when systems fall short.
We know we can’t replace the power and scale of the Section 8 program. But we also know we can’t wait.
A Patchwork Solution—For Now
To meet the urgent need, we’re working with Louisville Metro Public Health & Wellness to modify the terms of our current opioid settlement grant. Specifically, we’re proposing to:
Pause enrollment of a planned third cohort of 11 families.
Redirect unspent participant stipends toward direct housing stabilization support.
Preserve staffing levels, recognizing that fewer participants does not mean less work—in fact, housing instability increases the level of support required from staff.
We’re also in conversations with mission-aligned landlords and property managers about developing short-term rent solutions—such as combining participant rent contributions with ChooseWell gap funding and modest rent reductions from owners. And we’re actively referring eligible participants to specialized housing programs such as Family Scholar House, Wellspring, and St. John Center whenever appropriate.
This is a patchwork, to be sure. It’s not elegant. It’s not efficient. But it’s what we can do today to keep families stable.
But We Need More Than a Patch—We Need a Plan
What we truly need is a coordinated, long-range solution: a coalition of private funders, housing developers, property managers, and community partners willing to build a new kind of housing safety net for families in early recovery.
Could we acquire or develop small-scale, recovery-informed housing in partnership with landowners, developers, or the city?
Could we create a hybrid model where donor-advised funds or social impact investors provide revolving dollars for rent subsidies, while ChooseWell handles participant oversight and landlord coordination?
Could we offer property owners a single point of contact—CWC—as both a support hub for tenants and an anchor for financial reliability?
We believe the answer is yes. But this will take more than a single nonprofit. It will take a committed network—one that shares the belief that housing is healthcare, and that stable parents raise strong kids.
An Invitation to Think Big
Louisville has always been a city of creative problem-solvers. What’s needed now is a new kind of partnership—one that connects mission-aligned actors across sectors.
So we’re extending this invitation broadly. If you are:
A private funder or donor seeking to make generational impact through housing or recovery
A developer or property owner open to long-term partnership with a trusted nonprofit
A healthcare partner or MCO with interest in upstream stabilization for families in early recovery
A Metro Government leader ready to pilot new models
Or simply someone who wants to help families thrive in our city—
Let’s talk.
Because if no one else is coming, maybe we were always meant to go first.