The build · in progress
It's not a concept. It's a construction site.
Ground was broken in March 2025. The lodge is standing, the activity center is nearly done, and the grounds are taking shape, all photographed this summer.
$6.7M
lead grant secured
Mar 2025
ground broken
2026
lodge standing · activity center done
Apr 2027
opening
Lead funding: a $6.7M grant from The Community Foundation.
It's being built by a whole community.
Businesses, foundations, and neighbors across the Tri-State are helping build the Sanctuary:
- CenterPoint Energy
- Community Foundation Alliance
- Old National
- Koch Foundation
- Toyota Indiana
- Curran Miller Auction & Realty
- Kight Home Center
- Forefront Therapy
- Franklin Street Dentistry
- LawMan Tactical
- Atlas
- Casey's Dugout
- Center for Innovation & Change
- Jim & Carol Havens Family Foundation
Photographed on the grounds, summer 2026
Latest from the field
Mapping out the future of the Sanctuary
Ronnie Brookshire Lodge
90% complete
Activity Center
Completed
Cabin sites
Stakes in the ground
Horse stables
Cleared for construction
Opening April 2027.
Milestones
The journey so far.
- Jul 2026
Land cleared for the planned equine therapy program.
- Jul 2026
Concrete poured behind the Ronnie Brookshire Lodge as interior spaces take shape.
- Jun 2026
The Activity Center is completed.
- Jun 2026
Mapping out the future: Ronnie Brookshire Lodge 90% complete, cabin sites staked, horse stables cleared.
- Jun 2026
Old National Bank's Ace Teams spend a day volunteering on the grounds.
- Dec 2025
Cabin sites cleared for construction.
- Dec 2025
Marathon Petroleum Corporation joins the supporters of the build.
- Nov 2025
Alcoa volunteers plant trees across the property.
- Nov 2025
The Sanctuary marks Veterans Day alongside the community.
- Sep 2025
Framing begins. The buildings start to rise.
- Aug 2025
Foundations poured: “solid foundations, strong future.”
- Jun 2025
Ground broken on the Activity Center.
- Jun 2025
The Old National Bank Foundation awards a grant toward the Sanctuary.
- Jun 2025
Board President Danny Barr featured on 14 News and Common Grounds.
- May 2025
An information center goes up at the Sanctuary.
- Apr 2025
Featured in Evansville Living.
- Mar 2025
Official groundbreaking, covered by 14 News and Eyewitness News.
- Feb 2025
Next phase of construction begins, following a $6.7 million grant.
- Jul 2024
Sanctuary construction is underway.
Already a gathering place
The community is already here.
Long before the doors open, this has been a gathering place. Volunteers clear trails and plant trees. Neighbors fish the lake. And Mission First shows up across the Tri-State: at the Mogadishu Mile memorial ruck, the 9/11 Climb to Remember, Veterans Day, and Military Appreciation nights with the Evansville Thunderbolts.
Mogadishu Mile memorial ruck
9/11 Climb to Remember
Volunteer & tree-planting days on the grounds
Fishing days at the lake
Military Appreciation nights with the Evansville Thunderbolts
Help us finish it by 2027.
The lodge is standing. The activity center is nearly done. The last stretch is the hardest, and it's where you come in.