An artist’s rendering of the new ESNKY facility (Photo from ESNKy)
Northern Kentucky’s immediate entrance, low-barrier shelter launched a new capital campaign that will allow the organization to transition into a new state-of-the-art home this winter.
The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky (ESNKY) Help Us Home campaign aims to raise $5 million to complete construction and furnish the facility, expand ESNKYs programs, replenish cash reserves and create an endowment for the future of the organization.
The capital campaign has secured early involvement from the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation and the Drees Homes Foundation, which have each committed to a $500,000 leadership pledge to set the pace for a successful campaign.
(Photo from ESNKY)
Help Us Home will allow ESNKY to double its current capacity to 68 beds for individuals year-round who are experiencing homelessness in its new 10,000-square-foot facility at 436 W. 13th St., Covington. The new space, designed specifically as a homeless shelter, will also serve as Northern Kentucky’s first Daytime Navigation & Engagement Center (DNEC), giving guests a safe place to stay during the day where they can shower, do laundry and connect to services they might need. The DNEC will include an on-site medical clinic, community partner meeting rooms, guest mail services, self-service laundry, showers, phone charging stations, internet and computer access.
David Drees, CEO of Drees Homes, will serve as the campaign chairman in honor of his mother and late father, Ralph, who were instrumental in establishing the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky more than 13 years ago.
“We all need food, clothing, a warm bed and a shower, and I cannot imagine my life without these essentials,” Drees said. “The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky provides these basic needs and so much more. They deliver their services with compassion, human dignity and an unmatched desire to move individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent and sustainable housing.”
“To continue this noble mission, the shelter needs our help now more than ever, and I am thankful for this opportunity to help ESNKY continue its mission while preserving my father’s legacy of care and compassion for the homeless,” Drees said.
The Help Us Home campaign aims to raise $5 million over the next five years with four key priority areas:
Visitors take a hard hat tour of the under-construction ESNKY facility (Photo from ESNKY)
• Shelter needs: $1.7 million to complete construction and furnish the facility in order to open to the community on November 1.
• Five-year program expansion: Funding will support the growth of ESNKY’s organizational capacity and enhance ESNKY’s educational programs and professional staff over the next five years. This will help sustain future operations, provide for succession planning and create opportunities for employee advancement within the organization. In turn, this will allow ESNKY to respond to emerging community needs swiftly and effectively.
• Emergency cash reserves: Low-barrier shelters, like ESNKY, experience emergencies 24/7, 365 days per year. Current cash reserves have been directed toward construction and preparation for its new home. There is a need to replenish cash reserves for future emergency uses.
• Endowment for the future: ESNKY seeks to create an endowment to ensure new funding is available for the future.
Dr. Dawn Rhodes and Dr. Carson Castleman are co-chairing the top prospect division of the campaign. The campaign has eight vice-chairpersons who serve on the campaign Steering Committee and are heading up the lead gift division of the campaign: Dr. Susan Cook, Brent Degenhardt, Tim McClanahan, Michael Murray, Peter Nerone, Tom Saelinger, Greg Schneider, and Aimee Wulfeck. ESNKY Board President Emily Toebbe, Executive Director Kim Webb, and Office Manager Ruslyn Case-Comption are also members of the campaign Steering Committee.
“On behalf of the individuals who utilize the Emergency Shelter’s life-saving facility and services, our staff and board, thank you to the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation and the Drees Homes Foundation for your generous gifts to our capital campaign,” said ESNKY Executive Director Kim Webb. “We’re grateful for your generosity, leadership and belief in our mission to provide life-saving and life-changing low-barrier shelter and services for people in our community. Through your support, and that of our other generous volunteers and donors, we will be able to provide shelter and services to assist individuals to recover from homelessness.”
Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky
