A Portrait of Arcadia

When Clark Property Management began at Arcadia, the initial goal was not only to clean up the neighborhood, but to attempt to re-ignite a community. In 2000, a task force was convened with representatives from more than a dozen local social service and civic groups in an effort to identify the needs of the Arcadia neighborhood and determine an action plan to get this community back up on its feet again. Residents of the Arcadia Park Apartment Homes organized into a neighborhood association and, in partnership with representatives from the greater Louisville community, formed a Board of Directors to oversee operations at this neighborhood’s first attempt at establishing a community center.

In the beginning stages of Arcadia, the Center was housed in one donated apartment with a handful of volunteer residents staffing it daily. The Center has since expanded to an entire three story building, plus an additional food pantry and clothing closet across the street. Programs and operations are now run with the help of a full-time Executive Director, two full-time Americorps*VISTAs, two full-time Americorps City volunteers, two part-time resident volunteers, and a Board of Directors made up of local professionals. The Center also depends upon the more than 5000 hours of additional community service performed annually by numerous local church, civic, and school groups. The Community Center has been funded over the last five years through various sources, including major contributors such as Louisville Metro Government Human Services and the Office of Youth Development, The Community Foundation of Louisville, Metro United Way, The Kentucky Foundation for Women, The Kentucky Colonels, General Electric, KCD Artemis Fund and generous individual donors and foundations.

Over the past five years the face of Arcadia has really changed as more and more refugee and immigrant families have made our community their home and the Center the first place they turn as they try to navigate their new life in Louisville and the United States. The Center currently serves families representing over 15 different countries, speaking more than 25 different languages and dialects. Additionally, as Louisville, Kentucky is now home to the largest Somali Bantu population in the country, Arcadia is proud to partner with the Somali Bantu Community of Kentucky, providing both office and classroom space as this ethnic-based organization designs services and programs to meet the needs of their ever-growing community.