The Center for Women and Families engages individuals and community in the elimination of domestic violence, sexual violence and economic hardship through service, education and advocacy.

The Center for Women and Families has been serving the Louisville area since 1912. Originally a YWCA, The Center is now a private non-profit agency serving fourteen counties in Kentucky and Indiana.

In 1975, the Rape Crisis Program began offering care to victims of rape and sexual assault. That same year, the Creative Employment Program (part of Family and Community Support Programs) was established to provide non-traditional job training and placement to low-income women. In 1977, the Domestic Violence Program opened as the first domestic violence shelter in Kentucky. The program also provided case management and legal advocacy services.

In 1980, hospital advocates began offering care to rape and domestic violence victims. In 1983, The Center for Women and Families opened an outreach office in New Albany, Indiana, allowing The Center to serve seven Southern Indiana counties; Floyd, Clark, Scott, Orange, Crawford, Harrison and Washington. In 1987, the Transitional Housing program began. Four apartments opened, allowing some families extra time and help reentering the community. In 1988, the The Center moved to a secure, modern facility at 226 West Breckinridge Street in Louisville

The next year, The Center opened an outreach office in Shelbyville, Kentucky offering crisis counseling and case management services to six rural Kentucky counties; Shelby, Bullitt, Trimble, Oldham, Henry and Spencer. In 1993, another rural branch opened in Scottsburg, Indiana, offering crisis counseling and case management. Soon after, The Center opened the West Louisville Campus and The Center’s outreach continued, with a new branch office in Bullitt County, Kentucky.

In 1998, The Center continued to grow. Southern Indiana services expanded with new offices in Harrison County and Crawford County opening in the spring of 1998. In May of 1999, The Center opened the first comprehensive domestic violence residential facility in Southern Indiana. This facility in Floyd County, Indiana provides shelter for thirty people fleeing violence in their homes, and is open 24-hours a day, year round.

On May 23, 2005, The Center dedicated the Joan E. Thomas, M.D. Campus in downtown Louisville. This campus increased our housing spaces, provides specialty rooms for special-needs victims and offers more counseling facilities for survivors. Children find plenty of safe, bright space to learn and play at the campus. Community training spaces welcome lawyers, doctors, nurses and police officers for professional trainings about rights and needs of domestic violence survivors and a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Clinic currently provides timely, compassionate care.

The Center maintains a budget of $5 million, with revenue from a variety of sources, and employs over 100 professionals and nearly 200 volunteers at eight regional locations.