Offering the Homeless More Than a Bed

LUM Offers the Homeless More Than a Bed

A Letter from Joe Micon, LUM Executive Director

A leper came to him and knelt before him, saying,

“Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will.”

- Matt 8:2-3

If Jesus were here today, I think he would perform miracles that involve the homeless. Just as he cleansed the man with leprosy, Jesus would challenge us to act with kindness and compassion toward those in our own time who are hardest to love.

At the Lafayette Urban Ministry, we have provided overnight shelter to our homeless guests more than 265,000 times since our Emergency Shelter first opened in 1984. We know better than most how it is that the homeless end up on the street and the monumental challenges they face in returning to a life of stability.

Most of our guests struggle with addiction to alcohol, or other substances, that prevents them from holding a job and leasing an apartment. They have long ago burned bridges with family and friends. Some guests are afflicted with addiction, combined with mental illness. Others have just been released from prison only to be ostracized by employers. Still others have physical disabilities and are without the means to care for themselves.

Individuals don’t find themselves guests in the LUM Emergency Shelter unless the social fabric of their lives has come unwound. But as with the leper, it is those who are hardest to love that Jesus most calls us to serve. Our job at LUM is to perform miracles — to encourage and support each homeless guest as they confront the challenges that confound them. We show compassion and provide each guest with tangible support.

Every night of the year at the LUM Emergency Shelter for the Homeless...

We provide a safe, clean and secure overnight shelter for up to 44 guests.
We provide for our guests addiction treatment videos and resources, addiction group discussions and transportation to detox programs.
We provide direct financial assistance to help our guests pay for initial housing costs or the costs associated with starting a new job.
We reunite our guests with the support of family and friends.
We help individuals cut through the bureaucratic red tape they face trying to re-establish their legal identities. Without a valid picture ID, individuals will never secure housing, employment or public benefits.

The Lafayette Urban Ministry provides more than just a well-run, safe and secure emergency shelter. We provide the homeless with the tools they need to leave our shelter. We have helped literally thousands of homeless men and women to make a fresh start.

It is not easy work. And not every story is a success story. But for 35 years, LUM has remained steadfastly committed to helping our homeless neighbors navigate the road to recovery and self-sufficiency. I hope you will join me in supporting this important work with your dollars.

Your gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 will keep the LUM Emergency Shelter open to all who come. It will provide our homeless guests with the support they need to leave our shelter for brighter, more independent futures. Most of all, it will be a faithful expression of your concern for those, who like the leper cleansed by Jesus, are counting on us to perform miracles. Please, may we hear from you today?

Donate - LUM Emergency Shelter

4 Ways You Can Help the LUM Emergency Shelter

LUM Emergency Shelter Needs You!

Four Ways YOU can help the LUM Emergency Shelter are as follows:

Make a Monetary DONATION, click HERE
Sign up to VOLUNTEER, click HERE
Donate Needed ITEMS, click HERE
Prepare a MEAL for the shelter guests, click HERE

Overnight Shelter Volunteers are needed 365 nights a year from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. or 8 p.m. to midnight. Duties include check-in, serve dinner, and distribute toiletries. Volunteers must be able to maintain confidentiality, interact with a variety of people, be at least 18 years old, and attend one Shelter Training Session. Training sessions are offered every Monday night at 6:30 p.m. (no need to register for training).

If you’re interested or need more information, click HERE — or email or call the LUM shelter director, David Heckert ( dheckert@lumserve.org | 765-423-2691).

Volunteer - Emergency Shelter

Donate - Emergency Shelter

17 Days to Fight Hunger at Hunger Hike 2019

Hunger Hike 2019 - Sunday, September 22

There are only 17 DAYS to Hunger Hike . It's not too late to raise funds to Fight Hunger! Here's the information you need to know to begin raising money. Hunger Hike (Official Kick-off & 3K Walk ) event details are as follows:

Sunday, September 22
Noon – Check-in; 1 p.m. – Kick-off event begins; 2 p.m. – hike starts
Riehle Plaza, 2nd Street, Lafayette

Here’s several ways YOU can get involved:

DONATE to Hunger Hike – click HERE
REGISTER for Hunger Hike and create or join a Hunger Hike Team – click HERE
Donate to a Hunger Hike TEAM – click HERE
Donate to a “HIKER” – click HERE
Use the Collection FORM (PDF) – click HERE
Texas Roadhouse Restaurant FUNDRAISING Night (Oct. 1) info & coupon – click HERE
PROMOTE Hunger Hike - print & post a flier or poster – HERE

Hunger Hike is the perfect event for a team or group — church group, student organization, civic group or your family. Put together a Hunger Hike team and start raising money using our online fundraising site — or any way you choose. Won't you join us in our Fight against Hunger?

Donate - Hunger Hike

Volunteer - Hunger Hike

Business Leaders — If you run and/or own a business — you also may become a Hunger Hike Event Sponsor. If interested, email hungerhike@lumserve.org for more information. Please support our 2019 Event Sponsors , to see a list, click HERE .

We're Thinking about "Christmas in September"

Jubilee Christmas 2019 - Saturday, December 14

There are only 100 days until the LUM Jubilee Christmas day — Saturday, December 14 . LUM is thinking about Christmas in July — because it's never too early to begin planning for Jubilee Christmas. Won't you please consider getting engaged in Jubilee Christmas 2019?

Four Ways YOU and your church, family, business and organization can support Jubilee Christmas are as follows:

HOST Families at your own Jubilee Christmas event, click HERE
PARTNER with a JC Host Site that is hosting Families, click HERE
VOLUNTEER - learn more, click HERE
Register Families (10/21-23) - to sign up, click HERE
Donation Center (12/2-12) - to sign up, click HERE
Jubilee Christmas Day (12/14) - to sign up, click HERE
DONATE - learn more, click HERE
Host a "Toy Drive" & Donate Items - to view needed items, click HERE
Make a Monetary Donation, click HERE

Last year on Jubilee Christmas Day, 1,831 children from 640 families received gifts of new toys, books, clothing, and food for Christmas Day at 27 different events . If you need more information or have questions, please go to lumserve.org/jubilee, email jubilee@lumserve.org or call 765-423-2691. Thanks...and Merry Christmas!