Reigniting a sense of dignity

The new Lazarus House provides a safe place for women in crisis

By Kimberley Curry
May/June 2013

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Lazarus House–First Step in Toronto had its opening on January 31, 2013. An initiative of the Seeds of Hope Foundation, Lazarus House is a response to a major gap in providing assistance to women with chronic homelessness and mental health challenges. Women with such challenges often need immediate help and have difficulty or inability staying in a shelter environment.

Sister Susan Moran, OLM, founder of Out f the Cold, and Kimberley Curry, Rosarian and Executive Director of Seeds of Hope Foundation, at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Lazarus House. February 8, 2013, Toronto.

Located on Yonge Street near Wellesley, our new First Step home builds on our existing work of helping people re-ignite their sense of dignity and self esteem, which in turn allows them to create a path forward to health and to becoming a contributing member of society.

Our community and peer-support model allows women to encourage the strengths and gifts of each other in friendship and mutual support. At our existing houses, residents take an active role in managing the house and each person contributes to the operation of the house. As residents regain their health, they have the opportunity to connect with a wider community and participate in meals, life skills programs, and creative arts activities that are offered at our Seeds of Hope centres and through our Passport to Health partnerships with five other centres.

Our safe places have helped many women afflicted with addiction or suffering abuse, mental illness, or tragedy in their lives find a new way forward. Because our volunteers are creating relationships with people based on care and friend-ship rather than trying to “fix a problem,” there is a new sense of trust created. Trust is a cornerstone for people in vulnerable situations, helping them feel safe enough to seek professional help with facilities that can address issues directly.

By working with supportive housing providers such as Houselink, we can help transition individuals to long-term housing as their condition stabilizes and improves. We accompany them along each step of the process.

Our effective peer-based model relies on the involvement of caring communities and has enabled Seeds of Hope to be responsive to community needs and to operate without government funding. This initiative will demonstrate how the benefits of a community model can complement traditional medical and institutional models. The model has been pion-eered by Seeds of Hope Foundation in its past projects and is expanding with Rotary support.

We at Seeds of Hope are deeply grateful to the Rotary Club of Toronto and the Anglican Diocese of Toronto for the funds provided for this latest initiative. We are also grateful for the great contributions from others, including Sr. Susan Moran, O.L.M. who gives ongoing support.

Photo by Michael Swan.
Sisters Mary Hughes, Joan Missiaen, Susan Moran, and Cecile Turner at the opening ceremony.

Photo by Binoy Lugkoo.
The second floor media room at Lazarus House.

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