Lazarus House Ministries celebrates an agreement with the City of Lawrence to use our Ishah House facility as COVID-19 recovery center! We have offered the building rent-free, and the City will staff and run the program. In the weeks since COVID-19 first invaded our land, our medical partners advised us that the City of Lawrence will require facilities where patients with COVID-19 can go to recover after discharge from the hospital and remain for the duration of their isolation period. The creation of this recovery center will free hospital beds for patients in critical need.
In 1981, Mother Teresa challenged Brother Tom Pettite (founder of Lazarus House Ministries) to “make a difference in his community,” and since then, her challenge has guided this Ministry. In the last two weeks, we’ve seen an increase in the number of fresh faces coming to our Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen, and in partnership with you, we are prepared and well-suited to care for them. These services are foundational to Lazarus House. Responding to a medical crisis; however, is not in our wheelhouse, but what we DID have is a former convent, renovated, with ten individual rooms, ready for use. This March, we offered Ishah House to Mayor Dan Rivera for use by the City to help care for our neighbors in a time of national emergency. Thinking outside the box and creating a partnership like this is one of the ways Lazarus House lives out its mission: To love God and neighbor, it is what Lazarus House does!
In the months ahead, Lazarus House will focus our energies and expertise on food access and shelter for the vulnerable and hurting in Lawrence. I wish to thank each one of our friends and supporters for your generosity during the crisis. We expect a dramatic increase in the number of people who will come to our Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry as the economic downturn takes its toll. Please continue to pray for our Guests and support as you are able.
May God Bless You,
Reverend Jeff Hassel
Executive Director
