Cedar Lake: Changing Lives for Generations
For more than fifty years, Cedar Lake has been a place of safety, compassion, and possibility for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Founded by families who believed their loved ones deserved dignity, care, and community, Cedar Lake was built on a simple but powerful truth: every person matters, and everyone deserves the opportunity to live a life supported by respect and compassion.
Today, Cedar Lake stands at a defining moment.
Across Kentucky, families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are facing an urgent and growing crisis. Medically fragile adults with complex needs are waiting – sometimes seven to ten years – for the specialized care they require. Cedar Lake currently maintains a waitlist of more than 40 individuals seeking Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) services, while statewide demand far exceeds available beds. These are not numbers alone; they represent families searching for hope, caregivers stretched beyond capacity, and individuals who cannot safely wait for care.
The Cedar Lake: Changing Lives for Generations capital campaign is a commitment to meet this moment with action. Through a $12 million investment, Cedar Lake will expand access to specialized care, modernize aging facilities, and ensure that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive the care, dignity, and opportunity they deserve today and for generations to come.
Why Your Support Matters
Without expanded capacity and modernized facilities, families will continue to wait, individuals will remain underserved, and medically fragile adults may be forced into inappropriate settings that cannot meet their needs. As Kentucky’s population grows through 2050, the demand for highly specialized IDD services will only increase.
This campaign addresses those realities head-on by funding two essential projects:
Construction of a new 18-bed Intermediate Care Facility ($8 million):
This facility will provide 24-hour, highly specialized medical and behavioral care for adults who cannot safely live at home, in community-based residences, or in nursing homes. It will directly reduce wait times and address Kentucky’s critical shortage of ICF beds.
Renovation of the Oaks Wing at Cedar Lake Lodge ($4 million):
Built in 1974, Cedar Lake Lodge supports 63 individuals with high medical and behavioral needs. Renovating the Oaks Wing will improve safety, efficiency, and comfort while preserving the quality of care residents depend on every day.
Together, these projects will strengthen Cedar Lake’s ability to serve individuals with the most complex needs while protecting and enhancing existing services.
The Impact of Your Support
Your gift to Cedar Lake: Changing Lives for Generations does more than fund buildings – it changes lives. Every contribution helps shorten wait times, expand access to specialized care, and create safe, therapeutic environments where individuals can thrive.
With your support, Cedar Lake can:
- Meet the urgent needs of adults with complex disabilities
- Provide families with hope instead of years of waiting
- Strengthen long-term solutions for Kentucky’s IDD community
- Build a more inclusive, compassionate future for generations to come
This campaign is a promise to families who have waited far too long, to individuals who deserve dignity and safety, and to a future where no medically fragile adult is left without appropriate care.
How You Can Help
Philanthropic partnership is essential to making this vision a reality. You can support the campaign through:
- One-time gifts
- Multi-year pledges
- Corporate or foundation support
- Leadership and major gifts
- Naming and recognition opportunities
No matter how you choose to give, your generosity creates lasting impact for individuals, families, and communities across Kentucky.
Join us in changing lives today and building a future of dignity, compassion, and opportunity for generations to come.
To learn more about naming opportunities and giving levels, please contact Julie Torzewski, executive director of the Cedar Lake Foundation.
Jtorzewski@cedarlake.org
(502) 333-4478
COUNT ME IN
The generosity of donors is what will make our vision of supporting future generations achieved.
We invite you to make a multi-year pledge to the Cedar Lake Changing Lives for Generations Campaign through this pledge form. (Form to come soon)
Send your completed pledge form to Cedar Lake Foundation Executive Director, Julie Torzewski, by email or mail to:
Cedar Lake Foundation
9901 Linn Station Road, Ste. 901
Louisville, KY 40223