Help LUM Provide Shelter This Winter
A Letter from Wes Tillett, LUM Executive Director
“If you stay in and do what you’re supposed to do, you can make it. I am living proof.” -Steven (former LUM Winter Warming Station and Emergency Shelter guest)
On a bitterly cold evening in December 2024, Steven stood on the porch of the LUM Ray Ewry Center, reading about the LUM Winter Warming Station (WWS). Recently released from prison, Steven had no housing options upon moving back to Greater Lafayette. He was told about LUM and, with the freezing temperatures creating life-or-death urgency, he chose to spend that night – and every night last winter – at the WWS. The WWS provided the warmth, safety, and good sleep he needed to make good decisions each day as he pieced together his new life.
Steven obtained employment, worked hard, found an even better job, and started budgeting his money – all while staying at the WWS. As winter came to an end and the WWS closed, Steven was able to get a bed upstairs at the LUM Emergency Shelter. There he stayed for the next few months, utilizing the LUM Match Program – paying $5 each night he stayed at LUM, knowing that LUM would double those funds when he obtained a place of his own.
That time came in October 2025. Steven visited the LUM Main Office to meet with Mason and receive a $600 check (Steven paid $300, and LUM matched it with another $300) from LUM for his new landlord. Steven was overjoyed and grateful. He shared, “You can’t do it on your own. I am glad that I had people like Mason, Lee, and Melissa [LUM Homeless Services staff] encouraging me. I needed the help.” He added, “It’s nothing but good, positive things you are doing here. I am just grateful for that, on the real.”
Because people like you care about our unhoused neighbors and support LUM financially, we can provide shelter to those experiencing homelessness in Greater Lafayette. In 2024, LUM provided 18,879 bednights (14,945 at the Shelter, 3,934 at the WWS) for more than 650 different unhoused neighbors.
The need for this crucial safety net for our most vulnerable neighbors is greater than ever. Last winter (2024-2025), the use of the WWS nearly doubled from the previous winter. Our year-round, 48-bed Emergency Shelter has been full (with a wait list) since April 2024. This Fall, there have been as many as 22 people on the wait list for the shelter. We anticipate another record-breaking winter in terms of the number of people requiring LUM Homeless Services. Your compassion and support are needed now more than ever.
While the LUM Emergency Shelter and Winter Warming Station are free of charge to all guests, it costs LUM more than $20 per person per night to provide each unhoused neighbor with a daily meal, bed, heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, security, fresh linens and a shower (Shelter only), fair treatment by staff, and a light breakfast. Although that is remarkably efficient, the costs of operating the shelter programs have risen significantly in recent years. Financial donations are struggling to keep pace with expenses.
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 to run our shelter programs. We value and ask for your financial partnership to continue offering this essential service to our unhoused neighbors in Greater Lafayette.
In light of the needs within our community, will you help to sustain LUM Homeless Services?
- $20.00 = provides ONE night of shelter for one person
- $140.00 = provides ONE week of shelter for one person
- $600.00 = provides ONE MONTH of shelter for one person
- Other amount
As Steven prepared to leave LUM and get the keys to his new apartment, he wasn’t thinking about only himself. He was concerned for his fellow neighbors who were still experiencing homelessness. He expressed, “There are some horrors that come with being homeless. Some people don’t have the mental strength. Some even pass away. I want to help others be resilient. As I keep going, I think about doing a work like this [LUM].”
As he left, he added with a smile. “Y’all just keep doing the work that you’re doing.”
LUM has every intention to do just that. But we can’t do it alone. Will you please help LUM provide a lifeline of help and hope to our unhoused neighbors?
Gratefully,
Wes Tillett, Executive Director
P.S. Please give online at LUMserve.org/give-now. Thank you for your intentional kindness to our unhoused neighbors this winter!
{To protect the privacy of this individual featured above, the name has been changed.}