By Vinny Porco

USA Cares, a local nonprofit providing nationwide financial support to veterans and their families, opened a new call center Wednesday, July 1 in Jeffersontown. The call center will add 10 total caseworker positions, with practicum opportunities available to students in the U of L Kent School of Social Work.

The nonprofit and its current team of eight caseworkers pays bills, provides food and gives access to important mental health resources to veterans and their families.

Ribbon-cutting

The nonprofit held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and several Metro Council members were in attendance.

USA Cares CEO Matt Castor addresses guests at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held July 1, 2026 in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. (Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal)

USA Cares CEO Matt Castor spoke first about the kind of support the nonprofit provides to veterans. “Last year, we assisted more than 2,000 families, keeping them together, keeping them in their home, making sure they had food, making sure they had transportation and utilities but more importantly, making sure they had hope,” he said.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg speaks to attendees at a USA Cares ribbon-cutting ceremony held July 1, 2026 in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. (Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal)

Greenberg was next to speak, expressing pride in the city’s $200,000 investment in the project as well as its proximity to the nation’s 250th anniversary. “This is the exact type of investment that our city should be making,” the mayor remarked.

The last to speak was Councilman Jeff Hudson, who credited a simple preliminary interaction with Castor for its role in the plan. “Never underestimate the power of a cup of coffee,” Hudson said. “Because it was simply just that.”

Louisville Councilman Jeff Hudson commends teamwork on the USA Cares call center project at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held July 1, 2026 in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. (Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal)

He went on to compare USA Cares caseworkers to first responders in saving veteran lives. “The statistics say about 22 veterans a day to commit suicide,” he said. “We have eight case workers to cover the entire country. This facility will enable USA Cares to expand that to 18.”

The work of USA Cares

Following the ceremony, The Louisville Cardinal interviewed Alyssa Woodward, a case manager who recently received a master’s degree from U of L.

Woodward told The Cardinal USA Cares caseworkers can often have 30 to 40 veterans or families assigned to them at once. “Just recently, I was sitting at like 52 cases,” she said.

A woman walks down the hallway of USA Cares’ office building in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. (Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal)

“Having more space to hire new people allows for each of us to kind of lessen that caseload,” she explained. “To be able to give more attention to the ones that we have, but also take care of ourselves a little bit more.”

She also explained how the space will be an immediate quality-of-life improvement. “The office we’re currently in, there’s a lot of sound pollution,” she said. “So it’s people talking over each other. Those videos or clips that you see in movies of people in call centers and you hear all the click-clacking in the back, that’s what it sounds like in our office.”

Transformed from a warehouse without airconditioning, the new call center is soundproofed and designed for comfortability.

The Cardinal also spoke with Karla Sketch, the program coordinator for the nonprofit’s new Operation Follow Through.

Sketch recently received a master’s degree from the Kent School of Social Work, and developed Operation Follow Through during her practicum with USA Cares.

The program provides longterm stability to veterans who received previous support. For her development of the program, she received the Kent School’s Most Outstanding Bachelor of Social Work and Family Science Award in May 2026.

Karla Sketch, program coordinator for USA Cares’ Operation Follow Through, poses for a photo with a gentleman wearing patriotic clothing. (Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal)

Along with the new program and space, Sketch says practicum opportunities will be made available to Kent School undergraduates.

“If the student wants to volunteer with veterans, this is a great place for them,” she said. “Especially undergraduate students because they get to do that contact right with the veteran in the call center and do those intakes and learn how to support the veteran.”

Feature Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal