Beyond our full time community and 2 year live in workers through our Dorothy Day Fellowship, we rely heavily on outside volunteers, supporters and partners. Volunteers are back ground checked and trained.  We utilize volunteers through Ignatian Volunteer corps, Mercy Volunteers, and Brethren volunteers. We also accept volunteers directly.

To inquire please contact our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@stlydiashouse.org. To apply to volunteer with Lydia’s House, please fill out this form: LH Volunteer Application

Our current volunteer positions include:

Meal Angels
Lydia’s House is intent on providing healthy, well-balanced meals to everyone who lives in the house. This includes 15-20 adults and children as well as you and your family if you choose to eat with us. One Wednesday during the school year and Monday during the summer we have a larger community meal, and you’d be ask to cook for 30. As a meal angel you would be responsible for providing dinner, either delivering the meal already prepared or cooking in the Lydia’s House kitchen. Lydia’s House will typically have some food available including rice, pasta, meats, and produce. If you would like to use the food here instead of purchasing your own feel free to call and see what’s here!

House Duty
Lydia’s House on a typical afternoon can be a hive of activity: kids playing in the yard, meals being prepared, donations arriving, volunteers working in the garden, and so forth. Regular activities for a volunteer on house duty include cleaning, organizing donations, and light yard work. We have morning and evening opportunities (10am-12pm or 5:30pm-8pm) Monday-Thursday.

More about volunteers:

  • Lydia’s House draws on the professional and case management services of a number of outside agencies, complementing our pastoral care with the particular resources of local agencies who are skilled at working with women in crisis. Unfortunately we cannot use volunteer case managers.
  • We ask Community volunteers come in a spirit of mutuality and solidarity, and possess a desire to share their skills and resources.
  • Volunteers make a weekly commitment to us and ideally commit to continue weekly for at least one year. Stability and consistency are vital in our hospitality ministry.