Building Community, Changing Lives: Psychology Major Discovers Her Path Through the Resilient Families Project

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

Lexi Frederick moved to Louisville from Independence, KY three years ago to embark on her freshman experience as a psychology major–initially terrified to discover she would have to engage in a service-learning project in the community. 

"I thought, I literally just moved here two weeks ago, and I don’t know anybody or anything. It was really scary,” she said. 

The service-learning site she chose was Psychology Professor Lora Haynes’s Resilient Families Project, a community partnership with Wayside Christian Mission and Hotel Louisville. Now, as a recent graduate and member of the class of 2025, Lexi completed her involvement as the lab’s manager for this past academic year and now has her Psychology degree with a minor in Diversity and Inequality from the Department of Sociology. 

“We finished that first semester, and when Dr. Haynes asked if anyone wanted to come back, I said, ‘I absolutely want to come back, and I can’t imagine NOT coming back!’” Lexi said. 

The Resilient Families Project (RFP) provides educational experiences to strengthen evidence-based habits of resilience, mindfulness, and happiness in at-risk individuals in partnership with Wayside Christian Mission in Louisville. RFP holds programs for families facing homelessness and adults in drug/alcohol recovery who are housed by Wayside Christian Mission in their Emergency Shelter or Hotel Louisville. 

RFP programs work to promote healthy attachment relations, a sense of belonging and purpose, and interactive reading, as children’s storybooks serve as the foundation for designing programs. This partnership began in 2011. 

“This gives students the opportunity to see psychology in action—to see it applied to subsets of the population who are facing risk and many times facing multiple, comorbid risks or mental health issues,” Haynes said. “It also helps students to see what it’s like to work with a community organization or a nonprofit and apply evidence-based information in the real world.” 

UofL’s Resilient Families Project team, housed and directed by faculty in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, develops, presents, and evaluates all programming, while Wayside Christian Mission provides the space and donated food (from businesses including Panera, Trader Joe’s, North Lime Coffee & Donuts, and others).  

Set up and take down is also provided by Wayside, along with two office spaces, one for crafts and equipment, and another for program planning and reflection meetings. Those working the front desk and assisting with setup and takedown for Resilient Families Project events—are current or former clients of Wayside Christian Mission. Their involvement reflects Wayside’s commitment to providing supportive employment opportunities as part of the recovery and empowerment process. 

Through participation in this experiential learning opportunity, Haynes said students also gain the added benefit of presenting in the program or at conferences, enhanced communication skills, leadership experience, advocacy, and awareness of social issues. 

“The biggest hidden benefit of this work is that it gives you the chance to build your own community and connection on and off campus,” Haynes said. “It gets you more than just sitting in a classroom or chatting before or after class and feeling alone otherwise. It’s a really great chance for students to meet other people that they have common interests with.” 

Frederick said her own involvement in this particular lab has opened a lot of doors for her in the community and has helped her academically to pinpoint her future career goals. 

"I plan to come back to UofL for graduate school, hopefully in the Counseling Psychology program in the School of Education or in the Speech and Language Pathology program,” Frederick said. “The end goal is to do art therapy or speech and language pathology work.” 

Frederick said one of the most rewarding parts of community-engaged work is seeing the impact the programs have on people who need them. 

“Some participants are hard to engage, because a lot of them are there because they are asked to be or they have to be,” she said. “One particular man was so involved; he takes everything to heart and wants to know more. He has been there for at least as long as I have been there. Watching him grow through that is like seeing our work in action. Getting to see him come back and be excited to be there means a lot to me.” 

The Resilient Families Project thrives thanks to the dedication of a diverse team of UofL students—from a wide range of majors and departments—alongside passionate community volunteers. Want to get involved? Contact RFP at lora.haynes@louisvill.edu to learn more about volunteer opportunities. The RFP is primarily supported through grants and generous donations, including contributions from UofL’s annual Raise Some L fundraising event.