Lazarus Ministries started with two people serving about 20 of Atlanta’s homeless men and women in the year 2000. Now Lazarus has over 500 hundred volunteers annually serving over a thousand homeless. Allison Mitchell shares with Plywood People what she is doing in the city of Atlanta to help make a difference both in the lives of the homeless population, and others who volunteer, hoping to make things a little better for the people and city of Atlanta.
Lazarus holds an annual health day. It is a street fair for the homeless where we close off Ellis Street in Downtown Atlanta on the third Sunday of every September. Last year (2009) it down-poured but 224 volunteers still served and 623 guests were able to have a fun and meaningful day. Our goal for health day (and all of our large events) is to intertwine meeting physical needs (medical, food, clothing) with meeting social needs (fun, laughter and fellowship). We are able to do this in several ways throughout the day:
-Basic Medical Screenings: Blood Pressure, diabetic checks, asthma screenings, and routine physicals were offered
-A Clothing Store: After going through the Medical Station, participants are given a certificate to shop at the clothing “store” of donated clothing.
-Hair and Nails: At this station, the homeless are able to get haircuts, manicures, and (if they desired) facials.
Food: We usually made over 2000 turkey sandwiches and Land Of a thousand Hills coffee donated coffee enough for all the volunteers and guests.
-Karaoke/open mic: There was a supervised open mic/karaoke station where the homeless were able to exhibit their musical skills. For most of the homeless this was the first time in a while (if ever) they were applauded.
-A Church service: At the end of the day, Trinity Vineyard held their normal evening church service. Chairs were set up along Ellis Street, a stage was made for worship, and the volunteers served communion.
Lazarus’ Mission is “To involve the community in providing for the homeless by meeting their basic needs.” The Health Day is an obvious way to involve the community. We hope to motivate the community to be involved by providing the opportunity to do something good- by just being faithful. It will be 10 years in November that we have been investing in the lives of the homeless of Atlanta. In our experience, the community is usually ready and willing to invest time if given a meaningful (and hopefully fun) opportunity. I am always amazed at how many people want to serve. Last year, we had well over 500 volunteers, serving 6000 volunteer hours. That is the equivalent of 250 days of service. Even in these difficult economic times, when there are more in need of being served, I am always amazed at the quality (and quantity) of people that come and serve at Lazarus. Most of our volunteers come from Trinity Vineyard. They are a strong advocate of service and social justice-of being the hands and feet of Jesus.
There are many kinds of poverty that we encounter…the materially poor, spiritually poor, emotionally/relationally poor or a combination. We experience this poverty with our homeless friends, but also in our volunteers. I find that most have some area of life in which they are poor. I am finding, that what transforms communities is for each person who is involved, to look at the other no matter what their situation or station is and realize we can learn something from each other. A lot of interaction with the materially poor is one sided- which in essence says I have all the answers, I am the only one that has something to bring to the table.
What will transform the community and the lives of the homeless are the moments of calling out what they bring to the table. Volunteering can bring great change when done in that mindset- but the change will be on both sides. I have been transformed by interacting with my friends on the street – because of a back and forth of me encouraging them and them encouraging me, sharing the highs and lows of life. Allowing them the dignity of being equal to me and I equal to them.
