Oct. 20, 2010
For Immediate Release
By Katie Johnson, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Heartland Outreach (KHO), founded by Dr. Michael Carter, president of Campbellsville University, is celebrating ten years of service to low-income families and individuals.
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| Campbellsville University sophomore Kristina Critcher of Deep Gap, N.C., serves as an intern with KHO during the summer. (Campbellsville University Photo by Andre Tomaz) |
The primary goal of KHO, according to Carter, is “to provide Campbellsville University students and others, with an organized program of servant evangelism by engaging them in providing home repairs for lower income families.” The hope is that while the work of KHO provides physical needs, it may also provide the spiritual needs of those whom they help.
KHO provides services to 13 counties located throughout south central Kentucky: Taylor, Green, Adair, Marion, LaRue, Warren, Allen, Barren, Metcalfe, Hart, Pulaski, Lincoln and Casey counties.
When KHO was launched in 2000, Todd Parish, a CU graduate (’00), was appointed executive director. The organization needed a spiritual leader, and according to John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, “Todd was one who displayed a passion for service in the name of Christ.”
Parish has been the only executive director since the beginning of KHO. He is also the manager of his own construction company, ProServices.
Other staff members of KHO include Chuck Cassada, chief of operations; Melissa Green (’01), case manager; and Heather Hensley (’07), client advocate.
During the course of ten years, KHO has helped repair the homes and lives of over a thousand families. Parish said, “It’s been amazing to see the way God has used KHO over the past 10 years. With God’s help, we have been able to help hundreds of homeowners over the past 10 years, and we strive to help that many, and more, in the years to come.”
KHO partners with Campbellsville University’s program for freshman, FIRST CLASS. Each class spends one day as a part of KHO’s Repair Affair, going to a home and doing home improving projects in the hopes that the students will see the importance of servant leadership and developing compassion for others. This experience is then taken back to the classroom where the class instructor and mentor discuss the importance of serving others with their students.
KHO works with hundreds of high school students throughout the summer, training them in home improvements, such as constructing decks and shingling roofs. But the students are also guided spiritually during the week they are involved through on site devotions and evening worship services.
This summer alone KHO worked with 42 churches from 12 states, witnessed 72 professions of faith and made repairs to 70 homes with the help of 913 volunteers.
Campbellsville University hosted 561 of those volunteers for three weeks, providing them with housing and a place to worship. In those three weeks there were 29 professions of faith.
In the summer months, KHO brings in interns to help work with volunteers. This summer there were 12 interns, seven of whom are current or former Campbellsville University students.
KHO functions through contributions from donors. Much of their support comes from organizations such as Campbellsville University and Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC). According to Parish, “KHC gave us a startup grant, which allowed the purchase of our first tools and office equipment. KHC’s continued annual support through grants has allowed us to continue helping more families year after year.”
KHO has many goals for the future. An immediate task is to double the amount of volunteers and homes helped in a year’s time. In the near future, they would like to be able to build branch offices in the large cities within their service area, which would include Bowling Green and Somerset. To learn more about the work and mission of KHO visit khohome.org.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with over 3,000 students offering 63 undergraduate programs, 17 master’s degrees and five postgraduate areas. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.