Officials with the Harbor House Christian Men’s Center hope to break ground on a new building at its Clay Street location this summer.
Current funding sits at about $950,000 for a project that has an estimated cost of $1.2 million, said Christie Grossman Hoggard, a member of the organization’s board of directors who heads its community communication.
The Harbor House, which provides housing, food and programs for homeless men in the community, received $300,000 funding in each of the last two Kentucky General Assembly state budget sessions–in 2024 and the session that finished in April.
The rest of the gathered funding has come from donations from the Preston Family Foundation, Old National Bank, private donations, small grants and the fundraising efforts that the Harbor House takes on, including selling their homemade ice cream at local festivals. That’s brought in up to $350,000, Hoggard said.
Enough funding is in place to start construction and get a good part of the building done and under a roof, and at the same time, Harbor House will continue to work for funding to finish out the new structure, said Shelly Bowling, who is a member of the organization’s board.
Currently, the Harbor House has 22 beds for homeless men, and officials say they need more. When the new building is constructed, Harbor House will be able to increase the number of beds to 38, Shelly Bowling said. All the beds will remain in the current building, she said.
The new building will hold a chapel, offices and rooms to hold counseling and substance use programs for the men, said Hoggard.
The chapel space at the current building will in turn be used for more bed space, and the kitchen in the current building will be renovated as part of the project, said Hoggard.
Mark Bowling, the president of the Harbor House board of directors, said he expects groundbreaking to occur within 6-8 weeks.
Mark Bowling and Hoggard said there’s been plenty of help from the city of Henderson. Hoggard said that while the city was working on the roads in the area last year, crews went ahead and prepared water lines for the construction.
Additionally, Mark Bowling said the organization has been working with local architect Tim Skinner, and together they are working to get final documents submitted for approval before the construction can begin.
In the meantime, the Harbor House is working to gather all the money needed to finish the project. Hoggard said they are applying for all the grants they can find.
The Harbor House is also currently running without an executive director, which has saved some money, Hoggard said. She said a new part-time director will be hired soon.
To raise money, the Harbor House is also starting a new fundraiser—a kickball tournament, “Kicking for a Cause,” Hoggard said. It will be at the softball fields in Atkinson Park in August (a date has not yet been set) with a cost of $150 per team, she said.
All of it is for a cause that Hoggard said is often overlooked in the community. She said 95% of the men who stay at the Harbor House are from Henderson. And it’s more than a bed, she said. Part of the work done is to prepare the men to get out in the world and live on their own, and that means programs and counseling, but also helping them obtain needed documents, such as social security cards and birth certificates, Hoggard said.
“People literally come in here with nothing,” she said. “No way to prove who they are.”
And the 16 extra beds—bringing the total to 38—are expected to be filled quickly once they’re available.
“We definitely need more beds,” Hoggard said.
