Year: 2022

By Mary Ellen Mitchell, co-director In the past two years many, our guests among them, were sent the mixed message that the highest and best contribution to society was isolation, unless you were an essential worker, at which point it was showing up at work despite an absence of childcare or living wage pay. At Lydia’s House, we filtered through these conflicting messages, worked hard to stay open, juggle our own childcare, and write Covid safety protocols while also attempting to keep abreast of the thousands of situational outbreaks, CDC guideline changes and opinion pieces on best practices. We knew

Hanna Kahler was a Lydia’s House volunteer a few years back. When she asked if she could share some thoughts on reading to kids and book recommendations for the shelter, we said an emphatic  “yes!” The following are her thoughts, focused on multicultural books, and there’s even a book list at the end if you’d like to donate a book to Lydia’s House. By Hanna Kahler My entire life, I have loved reading books. I have warm memories of waking up early as a preschooler & snuggling on the living room couch with my mom, quietly reading picture books together

Top 10 Accomplishments During My Time at Lydia’s House After five years of working with Lydia’s House, I have chosen to take a new position as a full-time occupational therapist with Cincinnati Occupational Therapy Institute beginning in February. After a slow trajectory of my role shifting to become more administrative, I am excited to return to a clinical setting oriented to patient care. This position will be working primarily with children and will focus on using sensory integration strategies to support children experiencing trauma and mental health challenges. Reflecting on my time, I assembled the top 10 things I accomplished

Behind every successful woman with kids is another woman By: Meridith Owensby, Lydia’s House co-director In last year’s Hulu series Mrs. America told the compelling story of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and its opposition. At the heart of this story was Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative mother of six, who organized her newsletter mailing list into a formidable advocacy outfit. Her efforts eventually served to block the passage of the ERA. One of the less praised successes of the series, however, was the acknowledgement of the existence of help, both in the form of paid staff and family support. For