About Us

Arbor Youth Services is the ONLY emergency shelter for unaccompanied children in Central Kentucky.

We provide shelter for children as young as birth and as old as 17. Arbor Youth provides a safe and supportive environment to children who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or are at risk of victimization.

Our Mission

To end youth homelessness by providing a safe and supportive environment to youth who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or are at risk of victimization.

Our vision: A community where every child and youth has a stable home.

We do that through our various services, including our Emergency Shelter, Outreach Center, Supportive Housing programs and working with Project Safe Place.

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Our staff

Our dedicated staff is proud to serve the youth in our community and provide the best resources and services in Lexington to them.

Lori Clemons
Executive Director

Andrew Shayde
Development Director

Missy Pate
Volunteer Coordinator

Chris Primeaux Housing
Coordinator

William Jones
Shelter Coordinator

Hillary Welch
Shelter Youth Advocate

Our board

Suzanne Powell, Chair – Meridian Wealth Management, LLC.  Adrian Wallace, Chair-elect – Bishop and Chase Foundation.  Ali Johnson, Treasurer – Al Torstrick Insurance Agency.  Cameron Sallee, Secretary – Dean Dorton Allen Ford.  Camile Turner – BRAINBOX Immersive.  Chad Howard, Secretary – TOPS Marketing Group.  Adrianne Strong – Dinsmore and Shohl.  Ben Keller – UBS Financial Services.  Jessica Dawahare – Lexington Montessori School.  John Reynolds – Traditional Bank.  Kelly King – Kingsway Venue, Management & Events.  Myron Thompson – Fayette County Public Schools.  Stephanie Kelemen – Keller Williams Bluegrass Realty.  Tim Wiseman – Stoll Keenon Ogden. 

Our History

A legacy of service to our
community since 1976

it all started with a simple idea:

let’s Help Kids

The joint efforts of the Junior League of Lexington and the Orphan’s Society of Lexington, in partnership with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), led to the September 1976 opening of a coed adolescent group home in a Fourth Street duplex in Lexington.  After 18 months of successful operation, primary funding responsibility for the Metro Group Home program was assumed by the LFUCG.

The M.A.S.H. (Metro Alternative Shelter House) Drop Inn began operation in August 1979 at a location on East Maxwell Street.  M.A.S.H. originally was developed as a companion to the Coleman House for receiving funds under an “Alternative to Detention” LEAA federal grant.  The Coleman House sheltered younger children, sibling groups, female dependent children, female status offenders, and certain female public offenders.

M.A.S.H. in turn provided shelter care for up to 30 days for male dependent teens, male status offenders, and certain male public offenders. LEAA grant money fully funded the program for three years, and then at a rate of 50% for one year.

Funding for Metro Group Homes, Inc. (including the group home and M.A.S.H.) subsequently was obtained from sources such as the federal Runaway Youth Act, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the United Way of the Bluegrass, and various private donations/fundraising efforts.  With Runaway Youth Act funding, M.A.S.H. became a coed facility.  It was accessible 24/7 to youth who could seek shelter by walking in from the street, without the necessity of a custody order.  Per diem reimbursement was paid by the Department for Juvenile Justice and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Support Our Mission

536 West Third Street Lexington, KY 40508    •    Phone: (859) 254-2501    •    safe@arborky.org