Our History

The Emerson Center was erected in 1972 through the efforts of members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington in cooperation with city officials, local businesses, and private citizens. They recognized the need for safe, affordable housing for some of Lexington's most vulnerable citizens.  

The Center was operated by an independent nine-member Board of Directors until it was purchased by Housing Preservation Incorporated, which contracted with the city of Lexington and the Emerson Center Board to maintain the property as low-income senior housing for at least thirty years. 

The former Emerson Center, Inc. is now Emerson Legacy Endowment, Inc., a Kentucky 501c4 nonprofit, and we are continuing our fifty-year mission of helping Central Kentucky seniors.