WHAS Crusade for Children – UofL News

UofL, UofL Health receive funding from WHAS Crusade for Children to transform lives

Matt Willinger — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 19:32:00 +0000

The University of Louisville, UofL Health and the WHAS Crusade for Children are celebrating a powerful and enduring partnership that has transformed the lives of children and families across Kentucky for more than three decades.

Since its inception, the WHAS Crusade for Children has provided nearly $20 million in grant support to UofL and , fueling groundbreaking research, innovative education and expanded access to high-quality care for children with special needs.

This year, that legacy of generosity continues with more than $325,000 in new awards supporting programs and equipment that directly improve the lives of children and their families:

$200,000 for new equipment in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
$50,000 for equipment at
$22,500 for equipment in the
$30,000 to support the UofL
$22,000 for special education scholarships in UofL’s

This support has touched nearly every corner of the university — from classrooms to clinics, and from local outreach programs to statewide initiatives — making a lasting impact on Kentucky’s most vulnerable children and their families.

“On behalf of the University of Louisville, I extend heartfelt thanks to the WHAS Crusade for Children for their extraordinary generosity and decades of unwavering support,” said Jeffrey Bumpous, UofL executive vice president of health affairs and medical school dean. “Together, we are transforming lives, strengthening families and building a brighter future for children throughout the commonwealth.”

The latest investment from the Crusade will further elevate UofL and UofL Health’s ability to educate the next generation of health professionals and expand innovative care to more children and families in need.

“The partnership between the WHAS Crusade for Children and the University of Louisville is proof that this community’s generosity truly changes lives,” said Dawn Lee, president and CEO of WHAS Crusade for Children. “UofL continues to transform grants into care, research and education that make life better for children with identified needs. This legacy has opened doors for generations of children, and the best is yet to come.”

For more than 30 years, the partnership has not only brought critical resources to special needs children, but has also helped advance UofL’s and UofL Health’s missions of improving the quality of life for the communities they serve.

“This enduring partnership demonstrates the power of philanthropy and collaboration,” said UofL Health Interim CEO Jason Smith. “From education and research to compassionate, hands-on care, the WHAS Crusade for Children’s generosity has improved lives across the Commonwealth.”

UofL’s Music Therapy Clinic hits the road

UofL Magazine — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 19:22:51 +0000

When a 9-year-old boy with autism first began attending UofL’s Music Therapy Clinic, he was nonverbal, easily agitated and occasionally aggressive, despite trying various therapies since he was a toddler.

Staff at that School of Music program leveraged his natural love of music to help him learn to communicate. Now, as a 13-year-old, he can better process feelings and speak in sentences.

The clinic hopes to replicate such success stories by widening its reach and hitting the road. The WHAS Crusade for Children awarded the clinic a $30,000 grant last fall to purchase a van that will be retrofitted into a traveling clinic.

“Transportation can be a barrier to children coming to the clinic to receive individualized services. One way to address this is to bring the clinic to the children,” said Jess Rushing, assistant professor and clinic supervisor.

The clinic is an extension of the Music Therapy Program, which began in 2000 and is the only approved undergraduate music therapy program in Kentucky. Board-certified music therapists regularly see 20 clients in the clinic and two clients in their homes as well as offer services at seven community facilities. Clients range from newborns to seniors needing therapy for problems spanning developmental disabilities to Alzheimer’s disease. UofL music therapy students observe and participate in these sessions to help fulfill clinical training requirements.

Rushing said the van allows staff to transport equipment and provide on-site consultations, assessments and other activities anywhere in the community.

“It opens a lot of doors for how we can offer services,” Rushing said.

The Crusade has funded the clinic two other times as well, helping to renovate the clinic space and augment service expenses, as the clinic charges on a sliding scale based on a family’s ability to pay.

“The grants have been instrumental in increasing access to music therapy for children in our community,” Rushing said.

Chris Millett, coordinator of the Music Therapy Clinic, that the van has been especially beneficial during the pandemic, as it provides the opportunity to continue providing in-person services in a safe way.

Support from Crusade for Children enables UofL Pediatrics to extend access

Jill Scoggins — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 18:05:22 +0000

For decades, the University of Louisville and the WHAS Crusade for Children have partnered with the single goal of bringing the best health care possible to the children of Louisville and Kentucky. This year, the Crusade has helped fund in part or in whole 12 projects at UofL, including the recently opened Novak Center for Children’s Health.

“The support from the Crusade enables us to expand the breadth of general and specialty services we are able to provide to the children who come through our doors,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD. “All of us at UofL cannot thank the Crusade enough for its commitment to the next generation and their trust in UofL.”

Beginning in late June, nearly all the practices that see patients from infancy to mid-20s in some cases moved into the Novak Center for Children’s Health. This marks the first time that outpatient clinical care for these patients is concentrated in a single location. The Crusade has provided more than $475,000 in support of the facility, including $274,000 in this round of funding.

Because of support from the Crusade, UofL is closer to being able to purchase, equip and staff a van that will serve as a mobile asthma clinic.

“We have seen that if we are able to get into the neighborhoods and make it more convenient for parents and our patients, we have better results,” said Kim Boland, MD, interim chair of the UofL Department of Pediatrics. “This van will have a significant impact on our patients who have asthma and other respiratory ailments.”

The Crusade also provides valuable funding for what may seem like small things, such as basic supplies for a clinic, but they are essential to providing care to children. And this extends to support for hiring personnel.

“Through the support of the Crusade, we can hire specialized care staff that is critical to our delivery of the most complex care to children who have autism, learning disorders, cancer and other conditions and diseases,” said Dr. Greg Postel, UofL executive vice president for health affairs.

This year, the Crusade has helped fund positions in pediatric neurology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric hematology/oncology and the Weissskopf Child Evaluation Center.

Through the years, the WHAS Crusade for Children has provided nearly $16.3 million to the University of Louisville. This support has enabled UofL to provide medical care to countless children.