Have you been by Lydia’s House recently? If not, the next time you drive by, you might have to do a double take! The construction crews have been making lots of progress the past several weeks putting up walls and connecting the two buildings, getting us just that much closer to having a completed project to provide better quality care, resources, and experiences to our guests. If you take a closer look at our backyard picture above, you may notice that our walnut tree is gone! A few weeks ago, a logging crew came in
The Fruitfulness of 2023
Throughout the year 2023, Lydia’s House accomplished many things. We provided emergency shelter to over 20 families and served over 40 families in our aftercare program. Being able to serve all the families that we do and serve them well involves a lot of moving parts, helpful connections, community change, and growth. Some of the biggest changes that occurred in 2023 involved having new staff members come on board over the summer, the ground breaking of our shelter addition, and the purchasing of a new building in order to help grow and expand our offices and flow of services.
Merry Christmas!
The holiday season is upon us, and Lydia’s House has been getting into the Christmas spirit. Throughout this month, we have been doing lots of festive activities to fit the season. Our month started with having Breakfast with Santa! Our families enjoyed a pancake breakfast, made crafts, sang Christmas carols, and of course, took a few pictures with Santa Claus. We want to give a special thanks to the Ladies of the Moose (Lodge 301) for putting this event on for us! As many of you may know, December 6th is St. Nick’s Day. St. Nicholas is the patron
A Visit to the Hof
By Mary Ellen Mitchell When we were 24 (in 2005), Meridith and I took a trip up the east coast to visit intentional Christian communities and imagine what our futures might be. Our last stop was the Bruderhof, which Meridith described as “kind of Amish, kind of Catholic worker.” We stayed with a family, worked in the laundry, and saw their peace barn. Years passed, Lydia’s House was born, and we looked to lots of places to get help and inspiration for this work. In 2019 Bethany Kurtz came to us, as she was leaving the Bruderhof, having discerned that
Halloweekend In Review
Halloween weekend was plum full of different events and fun times! On Saturday we had a busy day with two different things happening. Here at Lydia’s House, we had middle schoolers from Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori spend the day with staff learning more about Lydia’s House and helping us out with some projects as well. While some of our staff worked with our middle school volunteers, Grace and Ashley went with a group of Lydia’s House families on a trip to Gorman Farms. The weather was in our favor and it stopped raining just in time for us to take