By On the last day of the month, here are a few photos of some house happenings in May! We had a Mother’s Day service to celebrate the many mothers in our community. With former guests and volunteers, and lots of kids, it was like a Lydia’s House reunion! Meridith did a reflection for the prayer service, and all the kids gave their mothers flowers. After dinner, we even managed to get everyone attending on the front porch for a group photo. This May we also got together and planned a house outing. After a few months without one, we wanted
Welcome, Baby Jacob
On April 16, we welcomed Jacob Walker Eilerman at 9:50am, born via emergency c-section at Mercy Hospital Anderson. He weighed 8 pounds 3 oz and was 20 ½ inches long. When Jacob is a little stronger, he’ll have a regular place at the Lydia’s House table, and for a brief moment (before our next guest has her baby in mid-May) he’s the newest member of the Lydia’s House community. For the time being, I’m taking maternity leave, which means I’m editing the newsletter from home, fielding the occasional intake question, ruminating over bigger issues with Meridith over lunch, breastfeeding hourly,
April Update
The end of Lent and beginning of Easter has been a busy time at Lydia’s House! We have continually been taking calls and doing interviews for new guests. Just before Easter, we welcomed a new guest and her five year old daughter. The new guest is expecting a baby boy in May. This time last month, the volunteers were fortunate to spend a few days each on a silent retreat organized by the Center Within, at the Transfiguration Spirituality Center in Glendale. It was a good time of prayer and reflection for all of us, especially for this time of year! On
International Women’s Day at Xavier
On March 15th, members of the Lydia’s House community attended the International Women’s Day event at Xavier University, which featured a dinner, panel, and discussion on “Building from the Ground Up: Examining Women’s Roles in Collaborative Partnerships & Community Building.” We were glad to be able to buy a table to support the event at Xavier. We were especially enthusiastic about this event because two of our community members were featured on the panel: Sylvia Chemweno, our summer intern from last summer, and Quanita Roberson, our house counselor. We’ve long been supported by many organizations at XU, and value our
Volunteers We Appreciate
It takes many people all along the way to make Lydia’s House a welcoming home for women and children in crisis and transition, and we are grateful for all those who take a part. Some of these volunteers we especially appreciate are Dennis and Georgia Bishop. Dennis and Georgia Bishop have been the power couple of Lydia’s House building and maintenance needs. From the early days of the house renovation, they faithfully worked every Saturday, taking on jobs like framing, tiling and painting. Since we’ve opened, they’ve continued to work with us, coming at least monthly to do work on