Hand in Hand Ministries is a Louisville-born nonprofit that has spent more than 25 years building homes, funding educations, and providing health care for families in Belize, Nicaragua, Appalachian Kentucky, and right here in our own city. It's the charity Winner Realty is built around — 1% of our net profits goes to Hand in Hand, and it's the reason five of my own trips have been spent laying block, running rebar, and getting to know the families we're building for. This page is our attempt to tell their story properly, not just mention them in a footer.

Who Hand in Hand Ministries Is

Hand in Hand Ministries was founded in 1999 by Wayne Fowler and his brother, Father Joe Fowler, operating in its earliest days out of the rectory basement at Holy Trinity Parish right here in Louisville. The organization traces back to 1994, when Wayne took a trip to the Caribbean to help repair an orphanage and came home wanting something more lasting than a single project. He built a small group of committed volunteers around a line from Margaret Mead — never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world — and Hand in Hand grew out of that.

Their mission, in their own words, is to bring people together to instill hope in one another as we meet the housing, education, and health care needs of the economically vulnerable. That's not marketing copy. It's exactly what they do, in exactly that order of urgency, across four places: Belize, Nicaragua, Appalachian Kentucky (based in Auxier), and Louisville itself.

27 Years of Building, Not Just Talking

What convinced me Hand in Hand is the real thing is the track record. A few milestones from their history:

• 2001 — first immersion trip to Nicaragua
• 2002 — first overseas office opens in Belize, and the first home is built there through the Building for Change program
• 2004 — international headquarters established in Louisville's Buechel neighborhood; an HIV/AIDS outreach center opens in Belize; Pathway to Change, their education program, launches in Nicaragua with three students
• 2007 — first home built in Nicaragua
• 2011 — Pathway to Change enrollment reaches 72 students
• 2012 — first middle school immersion trips to Appalachia; first Pathway to Change graduates head to university
• 2013 — the 200th house is completed in Belize
• 2016 — a Louisville urban immersion program launches, so the same model of showing up and doing the work gets applied at home
• 2017 — the Portland neighborhood headquarters and retreat center opens in Louisville; the Fowler Community Center opens in Belize
• 2019 — the 400th house is completed in Belize
• 2022 — the Forever Legacy Society is established for donors who want to give in perpetuity
• 2023 — the 500th house is completed in Belize

That last number is worth sitting with. Five hundred families in Belize alone who went from a dirt floor and a tarp roof to an actual home, built by hand by people who flew in from Louisville to do it. That's the kind of organization I want Winner Realty's name attached to.

Five Trips In — My Own Hand in Hand Story

I didn't find Hand in Hand on my own. Harry Borders did that — my mentor for well over a decade, the owner of Borders & Borders here in Louisville, a man who leads with kindness and is generous with his time to everyone he meets. Harry got me plugged into Hand in Hand and took me on my first trip. I've now been part of five builds, and every single one has grabbed my heartstrings a little harder than the last.

Here's what people don't expect: Hand in Hand runs these trips at a level of care that puts a lot of for-profit travel outfits to shame. You've got a driver, a chef, and security with you the whole time, taking care of the logistics so volunteers can put everything they have into the work instead of worrying about where they're sleeping or what they're eating. It's not luxury — it's just done right, by people who've been doing it long enough to know exactly how to take care of both the volunteers and the families they're serving.

And the people. That's really the whole answer if you ask me why I keep going back. Everyone I've met through Hand in Hand — staff, fellow volunteers, the families receiving the homes — is authentic, caring, and giving in a way that's hard to fake and impossible to manufacture. You don't come back from a week of pouring concrete next to people like that unchanged.

Trinity and St. X: Institutions in This Work

Two of Louisville's most respected Catholic high schools, Trinity High School and St. Xavier High School, have been sending students on Hand in Hand trips for more than 25 years — practically since the organization got off the ground. They're institutions in this work, full stop. It's part of why you'll notice the Trinity and St. X names on our own Winner Realty yard signs around town. That's not an accident. We're hand in hand with them, too.

Our Goal: One House a Month, in Perpetuity

Winner Realty already gives 1% of our net profits to Hand in Hand, and any agent in our brokerage can choose to match that 1% on their own closings if they want to give more. But I want to be straight about where this is actually headed, because a percentage isn't the finish line for me.

The goal I'm building this brokerage around is this: I want Winner Realty to grow to the point where our giving alone can fund one new Hand in Hand home — every single month, forever. Not a one-time gift, not a good year here or there. A standing, permanent commitment that keeps producing a house a month for as long as Winner Realty exists. We're not there yet. I'm telling you the target because I want to be held to it, and because I think naming a goal like this out loud is the only honest way to actually build toward it.

About Hand in Hand's Work

Hand in Hand's programs break down into three areas, all pointed at the same population — families who are economically vulnerable:

• Safe housing — the Building for Change program constructs small, 16-by-20 homes in Belize, replaces roofs and floors in Appalachian Kentucky, and takes on accessibility projects for families right here in Louisville.
• Quality education — the Pathway to Change program gives students in Central America school enrollment and the wraparound support that actually lets them stay enrolled and graduate.
• Health care — including HIV/AIDS care for children in Belize, nutritional support across every location they work in, and accessibility infrastructure for people with disabilities.

Their headquarters and retreat center sit in Louisville's Portland neighborhood, with a domestic Appalachian base in Auxier, Kentucky, and international operations in Belize and Nicaragua.

How to Get Involved

You don't have to own a brokerage or fly to Belize to be part of this. Hand in Hand takes volunteers on immersion trips, welcomes one-time or recurring donations, and has a Forever Legacy Society for people who want their giving to outlast them, the same way we're trying to build Winner Realty's giving to outlast any one year or any one deal.

Visit their site at myhandinhand.org to see current trips, donate, or just read more about the families they've helped. If a trip is something you're curious about, reach out to us at Winner Realty — I'm always glad to talk through what a build is actually like before someone signs up for one.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hand in Hand Ministries?

Hand in Hand Ministries is a Louisville-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit that meets the housing, education, and health care needs of economically vulnerable families in Belize, Nicaragua, Appalachian Kentucky, and Louisville itself. It was founded in 1999 by Wayne Fowler and Father Joe Fowler.

How long has Hand in Hand been working in Louisville?

Hand in Hand has been headquartered in Louisville since its founding in 1999 — more than 25 years, with its current international headquarters and retreat center in the Portland neighborhood.

What is Winner Realty's connection to Hand in Hand?

Winner Realty donates 1% of its net profits to Hand in Hand, agents can match that percentage on their own closings, and owner Rob Bergeron has personally taken part in five Hand in Hand build trips after being introduced to the organization by his mentor, Harry Borders.

What is Winner Realty's "one house a month" goal?

It's the standing goal Rob Bergeron is building Winner Realty around: growing the brokerage's giving to the point where it can fund one new Hand in Hand home every month, permanently, rather than as a one-time or occasional gift.

How can I support Hand in Hand Ministries?

You can donate, join an immersion trip, or join the Forever Legacy Society directly through myhandinhand.org.

Where does Hand in Hand Ministries build homes?

Primarily in Belize, where it has completed more than 500 homes through its Building for Change program, along with home repairs in Appalachian Kentucky and accessibility projects in Louisville.