Innovation at the University of Louisville generates a forward momentum that fuels a thriving culture of opportunity and excellence. But every so often, it’s worth looking back at where UofL and its community was to know how it’s doing now – to see how yesterday’s news continues to make an impact today.

Below, revisit a few stories from UofL News’ past to see how the promise of what-could-be became a promise kept.

June 29, 2020: UofL Kent School partners with Wellspring to aid homeless Louisvillians

In 2020, the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science announced their partnership with nonprofit organization Wellspring on a new five-year federal grant to offer a unified approach to help homeless people experiencing both mental health and substance abuse issues to find housing and recovery.

Bibhuti Sar, professor of social work and the grant’s lead investigator, noted that people having mental health and substance issues combined with housing insecurity was a major concern for Louisville. “The (Kent School and UofL) strongly support the wellbeing of the community. We welcome the partnership of Wellspring to enhance their efforts and experience to do that work,” he said.

“This will be a life-changing program” Wellspring CEO and Kent alumna Katharine Dobbins said at the time. “We will take a harm-reduction approach, but critical life experiences serve as opportunities to help individuals make positive changes.”

Five years later, the grant project has wrapped up and, according to Sar, produced positive results.

The partnership established the Program for Integrated Care (PIC), an intensive, multidisciplinary clinical treatment and outreach service for at-risk individuals. Comparing a baseline and six-month follow up, participant data shows a decreased use of substances, less depression, anxiety, hallucinations, fewer suicide attempts and increased satisfaction with personal relationships. Impressively, the percentage of participants who were living on the street/outdoors or in a shelter decreased by 27%.

The PIC program made a difference for “Simon,” 52, who was referred to the program in 2021 with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, PTSD and methamphetamine abuse after losing his apartment and returning to homelessness in late 2020. Simon developed a strong relationship with PIC’s full-time peer support specialist who was able to help him build recovery skills toward sobriety. Simon has now been through two successful lease renewals at his apartment, is in the beginning stages of Section 8’s homeownership program, has been sober for over a year and is learning to read and write to become a peer support specialist himself.

Though the grant-funded collaboration has concluded, Wellspring leadership are currently engaged in efforts to sustain the program to continue serving the community.��

March 31, 2022: UofL expands its reach to Shelbyville, providing dental care for the underserved

In 2022, UofL’s School of Dentistry expanded its footprint with a new clinical site in Shelbyville, Kentucky, just south of U.S. 60 East. The new practice opened to further fulfill the dental school’s mission of improving the oral health of all Kentuckians by providing close-to-home access for those in need.

The new site also offered dental students a community location near Louisville to learn alongside a full-time licensed dentist. At the time, now School of Dentistry Dean Margaret Hill highlighted the importance of students growing their skills in a variety of settings. “As our students travel to other parts of Kentucky, they are maturing into culturally competent dental practitioners,” Hill said. “We build service into the educational experience – not just on a volunteer level but as part of the curriculum.”

The office’s inaugural full-time dentist was alumna Pallavi Patil, who emphasized the importance of establishing a good patient-doctor rapport to help motivate patients to seek out comprehensive dental care.

The Shelbyville location’s current full-time dentist, alumna Rhonda Swanson, echoed Patil’s patient-focused mission while celebrating the clinic’s community-focused achievements.

“UofL’s outreach clinics are such a blessing to the communities they serve,” said Swanson. “Since (opening) in 2022, we’ve served thousands of patients, including many who have Medicaid or no dental insurance. As a shortage of Medicaid providers continues to limit care for so many people, our clinic provides access to care for those who may not otherwise have a provider, thus promoting better oral health outcomes in this community.”

Additionally, Swanson said that the clinic now partners with Shelbyville’s Veterans Rural Outreach program to provide oral care for select veterans, made possible through UofL’s fund.

Aug. 11, 2022: UofL employee launches equine therapy organization, Cope’s Hope

In 2021, College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development staff member Eric Wright and his wife, Debbie, turned their personal journey into a community service geared toward helping children and families with their founding of Cope’s Hope Equine Assisted Services.

Inspired by the needs of their daughters, Ella and Elsie, Cope’s Hope was created to fill a care void Wright and his family naturally found themselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic when their weekly equine assisted therapy sessions were no longer available. Rather than wait for things to return to normal, Wright took the reins and purchased his uncle’s farm, became a licensed counselor through UofL’s and started his family’s own organization, named for his grandfather and Brandeis School of Law alumnus Arthur Coaplen.

“We’ve just had a flurry of people wrap themselves around this project and this vision,” Wright said at the time. “To be able to offer even a small percentage of people the opportunity to work with horses, whether it be for mental health or for therapeutic services, is so rewarding.”

Three years later, Cope’s Hope continues to grow, serving clients weekly from its Fisherville, Kentucky, location and through partnerships with organizations including the Kentucky School for the Blind, North Star Achievement Center, the Dream Factory of Louisville and even the U.S. Secret Service. These collaborations reflect their commitment to creating safe and supportive environments for healing through a connection with horses.

This summer, the WHAS Crusade for Children awarded the organization a generous grant to expand their therapeutic riding sessions over the next three seasons. Another grant from the American Heart Association allowed them to install emergency preparedness equipment onsite to boost safety for clients, volunteers and their rural neighbors. Other neighborly efforts have included community outreach such as the Hats, Hooves for Hope Parade in the spring and their recent 4th Annual Barn Dance to celebrate persons with different needs.

What began as a response to their own family’s needs has naturally grown into a sanctuary of healing for many.

“We’ve built more than a service,” Wright said. “We’ve built a community.”

Savannah Harper contributed to this story.

“Carrying the floss had nothing to do with me wanting to do dentistry,” she said. “It had everything to do with me not liking things in between my teeth.”

But McPheeters knew she wanted to be some type of medical professional.

“I would look up anatomy in encyclopedias, intrigued with the human body and thinking, ‘wow, this is inside of me.’”

She said a mentor from her hometown of Chicago who helped minority students pursue professional careers was instrumental to guiding her to dentistry. After dental school graduation from Indiana University in 2016, she began her career in public health dental practice, but always with an eye towards academia later in her career.

That timetable was unexpectedly accelerated after her second child, Joshua, was born in 2018 with Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards Syndrome – a very rare genetic condition that causes severe developmental delays. The syndrome has no treatment and is usually fatal before birth or within the first year of life, but miraculously Joshua continues to beat the odds.

The demands of a special needs child and the arrival of COVID-19 prompted McPheeters to explore a career shift to academic research. In January 2021, she joined UofL and couldn’t be happier with the transition.

Her son’s special needs also became the inspiration for the professor’s decision to conduct oral health care research for special needs children.

“I had this idea to come up with some things to teach the community,” she said. “We have home nursing, however most clinicians don’t have any training on how to brush teeth or care for the mouth because most of the times they’re focused on things like, ‘Hey, is their heart working OK?’”

She applied for and received a ��to create a curriculum to help providers with oral care training for special needs patients.

“Most times we don’t see special needs patients until they’re in their 20s or 30s, and they need a full-mouth teeth extraction because someone hasn’t brushed with them, so I knew there is a need in that area. There are specialty clinics, but they have a two-year waiting list, so being on the prevention end will be helpful in so many ways.”

With the grant, she collaborated with local company Ohio Valley who provides home health services, and stocked them with special dental supplies for the community. McPheeters will present results of her initial community engagement research in March 2025. With the success of the Gheens grant, she plans to apply for larger grants that will allow her to continue and expand the work.

Coming from a big city, McPheeters has appreciated a slower pace and friendly vibe that is more aligned with family and work-life balance. She said she loves UofL’s emphasis on welcoming diversity.

“I never wake up dreading coming in to work, and when I come here, it brings joy to my day. I could be having a really tough morning, but if I’m able to mentor a student and touch their life in a way where I can encourage them and give them some good advice, it makes my day.”