LYDIA needs your support!

News

Dec 25

We want to share with you some of the great things that are happening here at LYDIA, in hopes that they will inspire you to rejoin our support team. We depend on people like you to help keep us strong for the children and families we serve!

LYDIA is growing in exciting, innovative ways, and demand for the services we provide is increasing significantly. Safe Families for Children, with its offices in 45 U.S. cities and Toronto, is a good example.

Last year, 895 volunteers in Chicago alone cared for about 1,000 children while their parents addressed issues such as unemployment, homelessness, and drug addiction. Here’s what one young mother had to say about her encounter with the program:

"When my apartment flooded, we lost everything. Safe Families stepped in and provided housing for my two kids while I tried to put our lives back together. To this day, I keep in close contact with one of the families that helped us. It means a lot to know that my children have a special place in their heart.”— Tracey, Safe Families client

Another growing program is LYDIA Urban Academy, a private, non-traditional Christian school whose mission is to transform lives through education and mentoring. One Chicago student who is making her mark is Bianca. Before coming to LUA, Bianca was earning Ds and Fs and had already spent time in juvenile detention for fighting. Within a few days at LUA, something “clicked,” and she began to learn and succeed as never before.

“I started a whole new life at the Urban Academy thanks to my teachers,” she says. “They gave me the attention I needed to get my grades up and learn right from wrong. I've never done this well in school before, and I’m proud of myself. Everyone at LYDIA is like family to me.”

LYDIA’s Residential Treatment Center in Chicago, which cares for abused and neglected children, is — as always — operating at its full capacity of 42 beds. Recently, we heard from a former resident, Andrew Williams. Andrew and his three siblings lived at LYDIA Residential Treatment Center for almost five years. In 1988, when Andrew was 10 years old, all four children were adopted by the same family. Andrew returned to LYDIA for the first time in 2011, visiting with his wife and young daughters.

“What I experienced during my visit was joy,” Andrew told us. “A realization that LYDIA was the best place we could have been.”

These are just three of the thousands of people whose lives have been touched by LYDIA. I hope you’ll be part of God’s work here once again.

Your gift of any size — $50, $100, $200, or more — can make a difference. Now is an especially good time to give, because several LYDIA donors have teamed up to create a matching grant. Thanks to their generosity, your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to a total of $80,000.

Our $80,000 matching grant ends on December 31. Please take advantage of this opportunity to double your gift by clicking here.

On behalf of the children and families we serve, thank you!

Sincerely,