Lamb’s Fold Center for Women and Children has been serving homeless and abused women and children for 27 years, providing food, shelter, clothing, diapers, personal care items, counseling, individualized case management, and much more.  We offer a comprehensive curriculum of educational and life skills instruction on topics such as parenting, child development, effects of alcohol and drug abuse,  proper nutrition, managing a checkbook, employment services, healthy relationships, and more in order to help our women become self-sufficient.  Special children’s services help our younger residents heal from difficult situations in their families and also proper relationships, anti-bullying, etc.

 

The summer of 2011 brought a milestone in the growth of the Lamb’s Fold program.   We now house our women and children in the community, in their own apartments or houses, while providing the exact same services to the exact same people, just at different locations.   Our professional case managers bring services to the women in their homes.  We moved the staff, food, clothing, diapers, supplies, and everything for the women and children to the Church of the Good Shepherd at 81 N. Ottawa Street in Joliet, just a few blocks from our previous home.   (Due to limitations of our building, please call before stopping by).   Lamb’s Fold is an outreach ministry of Good Shepherd and the church donates the space needed by Lamb’s Fold.

 

The families are very pleased with this change as they now have much more space in which to live (rather than the very small areas each family had for their beds, dressers, and personal belongings).  So it is easy to see the big improvement in the lives of our residents.

 

When a woman or a family comes to Lamb’s Fold, they are in a difficult situation; most have a history of domestic violence, loss of employment, divorce, lack of family support, mental illness,  etc., which leave them without resources or the ability to provide for themselves.  Per our Lord’s command in Matthew 25:35-36, we feed the hungry, clothe the needy, pray for the sick and take in the homeless…being convinced that when we do so, we have done so for our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Women enter our program hurting and desperate with no ability to change their situation.  Women leave our program better equipped to provide for themselves and their children, better educated, more stable and at an advance state of healing than when they arrived.  We also assist former residents with diapers, clothing, linens, food, etc., as our resources allow.

 

The President of the Lamb’ s Fold Board and Pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd is Rev. Doris Atkinson, who brought Lamb’s Fold from a small maternity home to the large program it is now, serves as our Chaplain. She is pleased to invite each resident to meet our Lord and develop a personal relationship with Him.  One of our Case Managers is also an ordained Pastor.  Most of the women who have lived at Lamb’s Fold in our 27 year history stay long enough to accept Him.  We have served Muslims, Buddhists, Bahais, Jews, Catholics, Protestants and others. Almost 4,500 women, of all faiths as well as Atheists, have come to meet Jesus while at Lamb’s Fold.

 

Over 300 babies have been saved from abortion because their mothers had a place to stay and the means to care for their babies.  We are pleased to assist these new mothers and help them become good parents, while assuring those women who have suffered the tragedy of abortion that there is forgiveness and healing through our Lord.