News

This is a sermon on resurrection in the lives of guests at Lydia’s House, given at this past weekend’s Women for Women event. My name is Meridith Owensby and I am the cofounder and a live in community member at Lydia’s House. I greet you on this, the third annual Women for Women celebration. We’ve been providing hospitality for just about 17 months, and I’m glad for the opportunity to share with you a bit about that experience. When someone asks off-handedly, “What’s life at Lydia’s House like?” I’ve got a description ready. If I’m speaking to friends who aren’t

We were very grateful for the support of neighborhood gardener Erin Lockridge accompanied by summer associate Grace Marshall. Following a garden blessing in the spring, Erin and Grace expanded our garden with a new bed and began the process of planting crops from seeds. With the support of a grant from Redeemer Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, they stewarded the garden and garden volunteers through a program we called “Garden Club.” Every Monday, moms and kids learned the basics of gardening, pulled weeds, staked tomatoes and literally laid the ground work for the harvest we’re experiencing today. We’re also happy

As you might imagine, it’s rarely a dull moment at Lydia’s House. We’ve been so grateful to host one of our guests now for almost 8 months, and to see her baby grow into a toddler. Collectively, we’ve seen his first steps, celebrated his first birthday, done a lot of stair monitoring, high chair clean up, and front porch rocking. Aside from our one long term guest, we’ve hosted several shorter term guests and are so happy that it’s likely one guest will soon be in permanent housing! Our work often highlights the housing crisis in our city, and it’s

As I near the end of my year commitment as an Associate Volunteer, I would like to thank the wonderful women of Lydia’s House for making my experience here so transformational. Mary Ellen and Meridith have created so much more than a ministry for women and children in crisis. They also minister to women looking for a place where they can see God in action, where they can enter into communion with women they would never have met otherwise, where their prejudices and misunderstandings can be broken down, one community dinner at a time. I am truly grateful that they