Dear Friends,
When Lazarus was formed in 2003 the organization’s primary goal was to secure adequate shelter in a permanent site for the homeless of Baltimore County. This year we saw that goal achieved with the opening of the new and vastly improved shelter on the grounds of Spring Grove Hospital. Fifty sets of bunk beds, a gleaming new commercial kitchen, and hugely improved bathroom facilities have replaced the cramped and inadequate quarters of the old trailers that housed our guests for the past several years. With this primary goal achieved, Lazarus has begun to look toward the future, setting our sights on what is needed now to help the homeless of Baltimore County strive toward independence.
In the coming year we hope to expand our resource center, to give more job search and independent living help to the men we serve. We envision increasing the amount of and number of loans and grants we can provide for the men who are ready to move out of the shelter and into their own apartments. We hope to begin to explore a relationship with Heathcare for the Homeless to bring medical and dental care to the shelter, rather than having to bus our guests out for these services. We have detailed plans for a new, organic vegetable garden, to be planted and tended by the men we serve, along with Lazarus Volunteers. We are in discussions with The Shriver Center at The University of Maryland, Baltimore County regarding an expanded partnership with their Priority Partners program. In addition, we are looking at ways to increase the use of the commercial kitchen facilities at the site, including a possible catering training program.
With these goals ahead, we continue to operate our 365-days-a-year food provision program (in cooperation with 30 area churches and neighborhood groups), our resource center is open three days a week, and our clothing closet continues to provide shoes, coats, and clothes, including specialized uniforms or footwear needed for employment.
All that we have accomplished in the past year and all that we hope to accomplish in the coming months has been done or will be achieved in close partnership with the community that surrounds the shelter and through the tireless efforts of our incredible volunteers. Without the multiple threads that make up the web of support provided by the community and our volunteers, many of the people we have helped this year would not have had the safety net Lazarus has been able to provide. We are grateful to you all for helping us continue to give “a hand up” to the homeless of Baltimore County.
