Rising to Meet the Needs for Option to Success Inc. Program

Written by Lexi Locke-Vincent

Photo credit: Option to Success; Pictured: Photos from Option to Success grand opening of their RISE campus.

In 2025, an organization called Option to Success Inc. (OTS) sought to purchase a mixed-use property in the Parkland neighborhood to house women supported by its RISE campus program. It was clear that Option To Success Inc. understands that mental health is a multifaceted aspect of well-being. They firmly believe in treating the whole person rather than just focusing on symptoms. Each day, OTS aims to create a safe and nurturing environment to allow open communication and collaboration between their clients and their team.

In finding a space for their RISE campus, OTS kept in mind that the needs of their clients are ever-growing. Many of the women in the program originally joined while in foster care, and others joined after aging out of foster care but needed ongoing support, including stable and affordable housing. A majority of the women additionally have children of their own and will likely face homelessness at some point without the safety net or support system many of us rely on.

Even though OTS had originally approached the Community Foundation for a loan through the Invest Louisville program, the Foundation worked with their team to align the timing of their need with a funding opportunity.

“When our team met with [Kristy Flippins-Bartlett, Founder & CEO of OTS], we talked about the vision she had to support the women in her program by addressing a growing housing need,” said Chelsea VanHook, Executive Director of Impact Investing. “Through our discussion, we identified multiple barriers to her buying the property. So, we put our heads together and identified another pathway to address those barriers within the timeframe that OTS needed.”

After this discovery, Foundation staff decided to support the project by allocating a $50,000 grant in August 2025 to cover OTS’s expenses for acquiring the building.  According to VanHook, “We knew if we provided this grant to address these costs now, that would potentially open them up to receive further investments down the road.” 

Months later, OTS held the grand opening for its RISE campus on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. The campus provides a 41-unit mixed-use living community designed to foster independence, education, and success, and was created with purpose from its community spaces to its built-in partnerships with local colleges, employers, and wellness providers.

Thanks to the grantmaking dollars from the Foundation and its fundholders, we’ve created an opportunity to support projects in the Invest Louisville pipeline that need grant funding either to supplement our investment or in lieu of an investment from Invest Louisville. When capital is invested strategically in community, it grows into a bigger win for people in our community.

Interested in learning about impact investing? Contact Chelsea VanHook at investlouisville@cflouisville.org.