The Lifting Lives Family Shelter

The Mission:
The family shelter exists to lift homeless whole-families of the Vicksburg area from discouragement and despair to enthusiasm and empowerment through nutrition and nurturing, modeling and mentoring.

The Need:
The National Center on Family Homelessness, Coalition for the Homeless, and the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth report the following statics:
» Homeless families are a fact
» 41% of the homeless population is comprised of families with children
» Homeless families suffer depression and generational poverty
» Family homelessness damages a child’s education and development
» Children of homeless families are sick and hungry 4x as often as other children, and 83% witness or experience violence by the age of 12

The Lifting Lives Family Shelter stands as the only place in Warren and the surrounding counties where an entire homeless family can stay together. Across the entire state of Mississippi, only three shelters offer this kind of support. Other shelters in Vicksburg serve vital but different missions: a men’s shelter, a children’s home, a women’s restoration program, and services for domestic abuse and substance abuse. None of them can take in a whole family. That leaves parents facing an impossible choice: split up to find help, or stay together in a car, on the street, or in an unsafe place.

Families in crisis often go unseen. Parents hide their children from public view because they fear being separated. They endure dangerous, unstable living conditions just to remain together. These are the families who fall through the cracks and want help, but have nowhere to turn.

Lifting Lives Ministries gives them a way forward. We offer a safe place where parents and children can stay together, recover together, and rebuild their lives together. In their most vulnerable moments, we provide stability, dignity, and a path toward independence.

The Goals of the Family Shelter:
The LLM Family Shelter provides a safe and structured environment to homeless families by providing (1) shelter and clothing; (2) food resources; (3) independence through education, work training, case management, Christian counseling, and re-housing; and (4) spiritual guidance from a Christian perspective (e.g. prayer, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Bible study).

Homeless couples with school age children, fathers with school age children, and mothers with at least an older school age son who lacks access to a women's shelter normally qualify for one of our programs. Homelessness may be caused by a range of reasons from disaster to eviction due to loss of employment. School age children are defined as persons from birth to high school age. Program durations range from 30-90 days, while some families qualify for 6-12 month transitional status. While the family shelter is the largest in the state, it keeps an active waiting-list.

Lifting Lives Ministries serves homeless families of Vicksburg-Warren County and the surrounding region, and continues to raise operational funds for its large Family Shelter facility which serves twenty (20) homeless families (110 mothers, fathers, and children). The Lifting Lives Family Shelter needs your financial and volunteer support.

The REID Initiative of the Family Shelter:
In Memory of Reid Huffman (April 5, 1994 - March 9, 2014). The REID Initiative helps children and youth Reach beyond their circumstances and Empower them with Integrity to have and achieve Dreams.

Reid’s physical presence was only with us 19 short years, but he made a lasting impact in that brief time. Reid was a kind and selfless young man. He was an Eagle Scout and was doing a year of service with AmeriCorps at the time of his death. Reid said his personal philosophy was “Everyone deserves to have water, clothing, shelter and to feel loved and cared for. I believe that is our job as Christians and human beings to help them reach that goal.” His family’s goal and the goal of The REID Initiative is to continue Reid’s philosophy of life serving others in his honor.