By on saying no to plastic surgery and yes to the b team By Mary Ellen Mitchell, Lydia’s House co-director The night before my partial mastectomy we went to my son Sam’s middle school soccer game. He’s playing for our neighborhood, Norwood, instead of his club team because, with the addition of my mid summer breast cancer diagnosis, we just couldn’t manage the transportation and weekend demands of select athletics. Our neighborhood, while rapidly gentrifying, shows few signs of that in its school sports program, so it’s been a bit challenging for Sam to lose and lose again. When we pulled
A Reflection from an Outgoing Volunteer
As our Bruderhof volunteer Marion Zumpe heads to New York this late May weekend, we’d like to share a recent reflection she wrote about her time with Lydia’s House: Growing up on an intentional community, I always believed that God had called me to that way of life. Although I still feel that to be true, stepping outside the community to work at Lydia’s House has helped me grow in my faith. I have put faces and names to the people Jesus referred to as the least of these. I have learned that some of them are the strongest people
Beating the Winter Blues
We’ve had some very welcome sunny days lately but January and February were brutal in Cincinnati. Living in a shelter with children can be especially rough. We tried to do a lot this winter to make life more bearable including An after Christmas pool partyA random Friday night bowling partyA Galentines extravaganza Interspersed with these big events we also were thrilled and excited to welcome a baby in a (surprise) home birth, keep on keeping on with our weekly Wednesday night family programs, attend the New York Encounter, complete level 1 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training, share a couple
2024 Recap
Lydia’s House 2024 Report to Partners As a result of work and prayer, the fruits of last year included: Guest Care and Aftercare Explored new data tracking systems and exported existing data to “Notion” for guest outcome reporting Created a new guest exit survey to improve the experience of future guest families Added summer camp to our offerings, including swimming, reading and life skills supports for guest and former guest kids ages 3-12 Partnered with Trout Lilly Montessori, Bellarmine Chapel, and Procter Episcopal camp for family enrichment Created a float and walked in the Norwood Day Parade with Lydia’s
10th Anniversary Celebration
Lydia’s House celebrated 10 years on October 6, 2024 with a house blessing, food, and music by MUSE Cincinnati Women’s Choir. Guests had the opportunity to see the new yard, playset, driveway mural, stations of the cross and atrium.