LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After decades of advocacy work connected with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Lois Windhorst pivots to helping vulnerable seniors.
If Windhorst had to, she would unload an entire delivery truck by herself. Windhorst works for JenCare Senior Medical Center, and on the day of this visit Windhorst is hosting a grocery giveaway for residents of Dosker Manor public housing in Louisville.
Windhorst is hard to keep track of because she’s always on the move, directing traffic in the form of volunteers and residents. Many of the residents know Windhorst by name.
“We address everything for their health needs to social needs, if they need food, like yesterday, I had a call from a woman that said, ‘I am out of food.’ I dropped everything. I got her some food and took it to her house,” Windhorst told Spectrum News 1.
Lois Windhorst is on a mission is to protect and guide older and at-risk residents of the city. This event is a grocery give-away, but it’s also a chance to connect with residents about who may not be aware of the free resources that are available to them from providers in Louisville.
Windhorst helps guide people in getting health care, groceries, transportation and protecting them from evictions.
“It’s so important to me that if they are here, we make it the best home that they could have under the circumstances,” she said.
Windhorst’s life of advocacy started over 40 years ago. She is a founding member of Kentucky’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Windhorst said, “It was because of a personal family loss. We lost my husband’s parents, both, in an impaired driving crash, repeat offender, and I worked with many other families that were going through the same things that we were.”
Years were spent meeting with, comforting, and lobbying for families affected by drunk driving.
“I was able to change laws, I was able to listen to them on the phone,” Windhorst explained.
Windhorst has been a consultant for JenCare for nearly a year. Never one for a desk job, Windhorst says more than half of her time is spent out in the community, much of that in Louisville’s West End.
“It’s very important to let these folks know that we care and I’ve got to tell you a lot of these people are very proud of what they have.”
But too often what they have isn’t enough, so Windhorst works to get people what they deserve.