25th annual golf scramble is Monday
Kendall Dean will be the first to tell you that she could easily have been a client of the Father Bradley Shelter for Women and Children.
Instead, she’s the executive director of the Henderson shelter that is observing its 25th anniversary of providing safe, stable housing for women and children experiencing homelessness.
Dean stepped into the executive director role in January of this year upon the retirement of Anita Mindrup-Ivie, just as harsh winter weather was putting extra demands on the shelter’s resources.
“I jumped straight into it,” Dean said.
Just a handful of years before the shelter’s bright red door opened in December 2001 to welcome those in need, an idea started percolating.
In 1998, the late Father Ed Bradley, the late Sister Mary Pauletta Kane and Mary Ann Thrasher started having conversations about the increasing number of women and children in crisis and the feasibility of creating a shelter that would offer refuge and hope.
Now, 25 years later, the shelter that was rededicated and renamed in November 2013 to carry Father Bradley’s name has helped 2,400 women and children.
But from the beginning there were some challenges.
“We had two daunting tasks,” said Thrasher. “One was finding a place to build or house the shelter. We had several failed efforts in the beginning.”
But a piece of property on Klutey Park Plaza was donated, and local builders volunteered to supervise the construction.
“When we were donated the property, I dreamed of a new building housing women and children who wouldn’t have to be homeless and they could feel safe,” Mrs. Thrasher continued. “The community supported this effort and the shelter was completed.”
The second big task was finding someone to run the shelter. And then they found Sharon Hazelwood.
“Sharon was a true blessing,” Mrs. Thrasher said. “She laid the groundwork and led the shelter for years. We wouldn’t be where we are without Sharon’s leadership.”
The founder believes the shelter today continues to be a vital resource for the community.
“It’s in a good place and continues to do what we set out to do—helping the women and children have a safe place to go and get a new start in life,” she said.
Originally the shelter at the end of Klutey Park Plaza Drive was a modest five-bedroom shelter with 22 beds.
Over time it has evolved into a community resource that offers more than emergency housing. It offers a pathway to stability and independence.
“We want to restore dignity,” Dean said. “We want to encourage long-term sustainable recovery whether it’s mental health recovery, physical health recovery, substance use disorder recovery …”
To get to that point, residents receive individualized case management starting with intake to continuing to housing reintegration.
Their program includes goal-setting in areas including budgeting, employment and personal development.
Meanwhile, the shelter (staffed 24 hours a day) provides meals and laundry access, and offers workshops on life skills, nutrition, financial literacy, parenting and domestic violence prevention. Children who come in with their mother get support, homework help and transportation to and from school.
Most residents stay an average of three to five months, Dean said, which provides time for them to “stabilize, save money and prepare for independent living.”
They get there because of a variety of circumstances, including relationship breakdowns, mental and physical health issues, substance abuse disorders and overcrowded or unsafe housing.
In the last five years, the number of women and children who have sought and acquired help has been rising, from 77 in the 2021 fiscal year to 141 in the year that just ended.
Dean talks about how she could have been one of those statistics. In 2017, she entered Henderson’s Women’s Addiction Recovery Manor by order of the Kentucky Department of Corrections. After being incarcerated for 41 months, she was homeless, without family support and unsure of what the future might hold.
“The WARM Center—and the compassionate community of Henderson—quickly became my foundation,” Dean said. “They gave me more than a second chance; they gave me belonging, stability and hope.”
Following that major upheaval, Dean secured a position with Henderson County Master Commissioner office, regained custody of her daughter and added a son to her family, joined the University of Kentucky START Program as a family mentor, bought her first home in Henderson and started pursuing a social work degree at UK.
She’s on track to get her bachelor’s degree in social work next year and her Master’s degree in 2027.
That whirlwind of life changes put her in a unique position to step into the executive role at the Father Bradley Shelter.
“Every day I draw from my lived experience—of trauma, recovery and resilience—to end with empathy, empower our residents and walk with women and children as they rebuild their lives, just as I once did.
“Thanks to the Henderson community, I’ve been able to turn my past into purpose,” she added. “I carry that gratitude with me into every decision I make and every life we touch at Father Bradley Shelter.”
***
The 25th annual Father Bradley Golf Scramble to raise funds for the shelter is set for Monday, July 28, at Henderson Country Club. Registration for the all-women scramble is at 8 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 9 a.m.
Also in celebration of the shelter’s 25th anniversary, the 15th Fox On The Run 5K is set for Friday, Aug. 8, in connection with the Bluegrass in the Park Folklife Festival.
Fundraisers for the shelter help support 24-hour staffing, assisting with replacing documents (95 percent of residents arrive with an ID, birth certificate or social security card) and providing work clothes, food, toiletries and rent-free living quarters.