Departing from the standard brief personal essay, today I’d like to introduce you all to my friend Allison Mitchell, founder and Executive Director of Lazarus Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. On Thanksgiving Day, 2000, Allison and a friend committed to spend the day serving the hungry. Turned away by several local organizations, they opted to make it personal by buying coffee and snacks from the gas station and sharing them with some homeless men and women nearby who hadn’t made it to the large organized events where they had tried to volunteer.
They talked sports, shared a bit of humanizing conversation, and went on their way. This was the start of Lazarus- Allison and her friend returned the next week, and the next, and more than 500 weeks later, are still going out on the streets of Atlanta to serve “with, not for” the homeless. For the last ten years, Lazarus (now a registered charity) has sent small teams of volunteers to the street with beverages, food and smiles. Through simple consistent kindness, week in and week out, they have paved a way to help in encouraging the homeless to long term needs programs. Allison has grown to see this mission as her calling in life and works at it full-time.
Allison and I were introduced by a mutual friend. Kris is a pastor and a great listener, and I was sharing with him my concerns about how to help the homeless people I encountered and how to teach my children about serving the less fortunate. “You have GOT to meet Allison.” So I did. We met for coffee and she invited me to her upcoming class entitled “Engaging Homelessness.” I was completely enamored with her simple approach: address both physical AND social needs. Homeless people are lectured to and preached at on a good day…. most of the time they are invisible, ignored. Rather than trying to save the world, Allison and the over 500 volunteers she organizes every year choose to put a cold Coke or hot cup of coffee into the hands of the homeless and really connect with them on a human level. They look them in the eye and see them like God does- whole and human, just the way they are.
Allison graciously allowed me to interview her recently and next week, you can hear from Allison in her own words. In the meantime, you can visit the Lazarus website and read more about what they do. The media gallery is especially interesting. If you find their vision compelling, don’t be shy about donating a few bucks via the paypal link here.
I love that the foundation of this ministry is that we are not separate, but all connected. Instead of focusing on division and otherness, this work (it seems to me) focuses on our shared humanity. Very inspiring — thanks for sharing.
YES! It is a real paradigm shift to look at a homeless person and know we are equal, that God loves us both the same.
Thank you for this thoughtful post. I especially loved the line: “They look them in the eye and see them like God does- whole and human, just the way they are.”
So nice to read how one person reached out and developed an organization that blesses the lives of both the homeless and those who serve them.
I also loved this. Reminded me of the Desmond Tutu book I just read–Made for Goodness. A good read!
This is a really worthy cause, and I absolutely love their approach. I loved hearing the personal stories from the videos on the site.
I donated (love being able to do that through PayPal, btw!). Thanks for bringing this to our attention – I can’t wait to hear the interview!