Mission Moments – Meet Tim, Tyrell & Sharon
LUM Shelter News – Hospitality 365 Days/Year
Meet Tim, Tyrell, and Sharon—three individuals whose lives were touched by the support of the LUM Emergency Shelter and Winter Warming Station.
- TIM stayed at the LUM Emergency Shelter for a few months until he saved up enough money to get an apartment of his own
- TYRELL stayed at the LUM Winter Warming Station for a few nights until he could find new housing
- SHARON stayed at the LUM Emergency Shelter for several weeks while she got connected to mental health, addiction recovery, and long-term housing resources
LUM homeless services emerge as a beacon of hope, providing the unhoused with more than just a temporary refuge. For these resilient souls, and countless others, this vital service becomes the cornerstone of transformation, offering not just shelter, but a lifeline to a brighter, more promising tomorrow.
DONATE | VOLUNTEER | Prepare Shelter MEALS or TO-GO MEALS
Donate NEEDED ITEMS | Sponsor a COLLECTION DRIVE
Hospitality changes lives. At LUM we believe that one of the first steps toward long-term, secure housing is to make sure unhoused people are treated hospitably – shown respect, provided a nutritious meal, a good night of sleep, and a safe place to stay.
This year, more than 650 different individuals will seek a warm meal, a shower, a clean bed, fresh linens, heat in the winter, air-conditioning in the summer, secure sleeping quarters, a light breakfast in the morning, and fair treatment from the LUM Emergency Shelter staff members. Open 365 nights a year, LUM provides more than 13,000 bednights to the unhoused in Greater Lafayette.
In an effort to keep each guest focused on long-term housing solutions, LUM limits a guest’s stay to six months. LUM works closely with several wonderful community partners to connect guests with the resources needed for secure housing and holistic health.
As winter approaches, the risk to our unhoused neighbors grows. From November 15 through April 15, in addition to the year-round overnight Emergency Shelter, LUM turns the lobby of our Main Office into the Winter Warming Station. Started in 2015, the WWS is a low-barrier shelter designed to prevent anyone from freezing to death on the streets of Lafayette. In years past, the shelter operated from midnight to 7:00 a.m. This year the WWS will open at 9:00 p.m., better serving the unhoused in Greater Lafayette.
While the LUM Emergency Shelter and Winter Warming Station are free of charge to all guests, it costs LUM around $20 per person per night for these programs. Although that is remarkably efficient, the costs of operating the shelter programs have risen significantly in the past three years. Financial donations have not kept pace. LUM intentionally does not rely on federal funding, allowing for maximum freedom and flexibility in serving all of our local unhoused neighbors.
That means we rely almost entirely on individual donations in order to run our shelter programs. We need your financial partnership in order to continue to offer this essential service to our unhoused neighbors in Greater Lafayette. As we watch the cost of housing continue to rise, and as we see demand for emergency shelter increase all Summer and Fall, we anticipate more people than ever will need the LUM shelter programs this Winter.
Would you please consider making a significant financial contribution to the LUM shelter programs, partnering with LUM in sheltering the unhoused in Greater Lafayette?
- $20.00 = provide ONE night of shelter for one person
- $60.00 = provide THREE nights of shelter for one person
- $140.00 = provide ONE week of shelter for one person
- $280.00 = provide TWO weeks of shelter for one person
- $600.00 = provide ONE MONTH of shelter for one person
LUM is providing life-changing hospitality to our neighbors 365 nights per year (366 nights in 2024). We need sustaining partners. Would you consider making yours a recurring gift?