The Family Nurturing Center, which provides services for victims of child abuse and neglect, is building a new facility in Crestview Hills to provide expanded services to its client base. The organization currently operates out of a rented facility in Florence, but CEO Jane Herms said the space is no longer capable of handling demand for services.
“When we look at our having 85 kids on a waiting list for counseling, even if I had funding for another counselor, I don’t have anywhere to put them,” said Herms.
The new facility is located on Centre View Boulevard in the Thomas More Office Park in Crestview Hills. Kenton County property records indicate the Family Nurturing Center bought the property last year for $1.825 million. This will be the first time the organization has ever owned its own place, said Herms.
The organization has already raised about $9 million to expand the new building’s footprint to 18,000 square feet, about 10,000 more square feet than their current facility in Florence. The organization and some of its funders hosted a beam signing – where people signed one of the structural support beams that will go into the new building – Friday morning.
All of the Family Nurturing Center’s evidence-based therapies are free at the point of service. Marketing materials from the organization put the number of children and adults served by the organization annually at about 10,000.
“Our therapy is very focused for children who’ve experienced abuse, witnessed domestic violence, witness a parent overdose, have had those really traumatic experiences that require a specialized therapy service,” Herms said.
The amount of time someone can spend on the organization’s current waiting list is anywhere from six to nine months. Kentucky had the fifth highest rate of child abuse victims in the nation in 2024, according a report from the federal Office of the Administration for Children and Families published in January.
“We are a combination of place and people who create first of all safety, second of all connection, and third of all healing,” said Jill Gay, the organization’s programming director, at the Friday event.
The organization’s services are funded through a combination of individual donations, county government appropriations and foundation funding.
The organization hopes to raise $12 million to fund the facility expansion. $9 million, which includes a $2.5 million appropriation from the general assembly, has already been raised.
Stephanie Dietz, a Republican Kentucky Representative from Edgewood and a family lawyer, presented a giant ceremonial $2.5 million check to the organization on Friday.
“As a lawyer, a legislator and a member of this community, I have always believed that one of the most important investments we can make is an investment in children and families,” Dietz said. “The work done by the Family Nurturing Center represents exactly that kind of investment.”
You can donate to the Family Nurturing Center’s capital campaign here.
