Lifeline’s $13 million campaign to include new Women’s Campus
Less than two years after announcing the acquisition of a new 45-acre men’s campus in Ballard County, Lifeline Recovery Center today announced a new 45-acre women’s campus in McCracken County and a major fundraising campaign.
Both were announced at today’s 20th annual banquet by board chair Steve Powless.
The new women’s campus will be developed at 8650 Old Highway 60, near Barkley Regional Airport.
“A Campaign for Recovery: Breaking the Cycle of Addiction, One Life at a Time” has already raised $11 million, or 85 percent of its $13 million goal. The campaign began quietly in 2023 and is expected to conclude in 2026.
The funds will provide $7 million for the new campuses, including the purchase of both 45-acre properties and significant new construction on the women’s campus, including a new chapel, housing, dining, educational, counseling and administrative space. The men’s campus was already outfitted with those buildings when purchased.
The campaign also includes $3 million to grow Lifeline’s licensed and certified professional staff, reducing staff-to-client ratios, and $3 million for an endowment for long-term financial sustainability.
Powless said construction is expected to begin late this year at the new women’s campus.
The women’s campus currently is on Morgan Lane, the former site of the men’s campus. When the men moved to Ballard County in 2022, the women’s campus moved from Bloom Avenue to Morgan Lane. After the new women’s campus is completed, Lifeline will determine the use for facilities on Morgan Lane, with possibilities ranging from sober living quarters for men to outpatient services.
Powless said both the men’s and women’s new campuses offer room for future expansion. “Our creativity has been limited only by the lack of space,” he said, “and now that will no longer be a problem.”
Lifeline, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has served more than 2,000 people. That number will increase with the additional space. Also, programming and staffing can expand.
“Why are we doing this?” Powless asked. “Because everyone knows someone affected by substance abuse. Six Kentuckians die every day from addiction! And we are turning away half the people who come to us to get sober because of limited space or staff.”
At every Lifeline event, a graduate recounts how Lifeline has changed his or her life as they move from addiction to sobriety. Tonight, Anna Yontz, a 2018 graduate, shared her struggle and success; while family members of Lifeline graduates described how their families were affected by addiction.
Brooklin Preston, daughter of Lifeline women’s program director Billie Preston, shared her childhood memories before her mother got sober at Lifeline. Teresa Beavers, mother of 2008 graduate Ryan Beavers, added: “Lifeline doesn’t just change a person,” she said. “That person’s change affects their children, their whole family, even the whole community. It can truly break the chain of addiction.”
Executive director Ashley Miller, herself a 2014 graduate of Lifeline, said it is gratifying to see Lifeline growing with community support. “Lifeline changed my own life, and I am here to walk with others seeking to change theirs,” she said.
Campaign gifts can include cash, outright or pledged over three years; gifts of stock; planned gifts such as life insurance policies or annuities; or qualified charitable distributions for people over 70 donating directly from a taxable IRA. Campaign gifts can be made at LifelineRecoveryCenter.org/campaign.
Lifeline is a Christ-centered, long-term residential recovery program for those struggling with life-controlling addictions. Last year, 56 men and women completed the program.
