Churchill Downs Team Members Volunteer to Provide Critical Home Repairs for Racetrack Neighbor with New Directions Housing Corporation’s Repair Affair

LOUISVILLE, KY., (November 6, 2023) – Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) team members from the corporate office and TwinSpires business division packed their lawn care essentials to provide home repair services for a resident of the South Louisville neighborhood bordering the company’s iconic Churchill Downs Racetrack (Churchill Downs). The valued volunteer opportunity was made possible through a three-year community partnership with New Directions Housing Corporation (New Directions).

CDI connected with New Directions in hopes of giving back and providing needed services to the neighbors of Churchill Downs. Through their Repair Affair initiative, New Directions was able to help identify qualifying long-term residents in the area in need of critical improvements to their homes. In addition to the most recent yard work efforts, this partnership between CDI and New Directions has provided home repairs for almost 50 homeowners in the surrounding neighborhoods. In the last two years, Churchill Downs and New Directions have been able to give a disabled homeowner a fully accessible bathroom, replace a broken furnace during the holiday in a home where a grandfather was acting as caretaker to his two young grandchildren, countless other roof repairs, safety upgrades and painting projects.

New Directions’ mission is to develop and maintain affordable housing in partnership with neighborhoods and other stakeholders. The Repair Affair program provides free home repair for homeowners 60 and over, or with a verified disability who own and live in their home and make less than 50% of the Area Median Income – $27,150 for a one-person household.

“We value our South Louisville neighbors and recognize that they are an important part of what we do at Churchill Downs,” said Tonya Abeln, VP of Corporate Communications for CDI. “We’re grateful to New Directions for efficiently connecting us with those neighbors in the most need.”

CDI team members found meaning in opportunity to come together to do important work and engage with the residents who live around the Racetrack:

• “I’m very proud of the impact we were able to make in our community and appreciate the support provide by the New Directions team.” – Jeff Doud, Sr. Director of Gaming Operations
• “Friday’s Repair Affair was an incredibly fun and rewarding experience! As a transplant to Louisville it was a great opportunity to get involved with the Louisville community and help support my new neighbors, as well as a chance to build stronger connections with my CDI family” – Sydney Eckler, Manager of IT Audit
• “In just three hours, our team was able to truly transform one of our neighbor’s yards. We all headed back to the office after knowing we had truly made a change in someone’s life. In addition to being a visible, helping force in our community, the event was a great catalyst to get to know more corporate team members.” – Matthew Libby, Sr. Director of Revenue Management

To learn more about New Directions and their impactful work throughout the Kentuckiana area, visit: https://www.ndhc.org/.