Founded in 1983, Lazarus House is a community-based nonprofit in Lawrence, MA, serving 2,000 individuals and families each week who are facing the challenges of homelessness and food insecurity.
Our Programs
Since opening our doors in 1983, we have met every Guest exactly where they are, with dignity and respect. We provide a continuum of food and housing programs, along with access to vital support services and resources, including financial literacy and employment readiness coaching and life skills training, to help each Guest on a path toward stability and self-sufficiency.
Donate Food
Lazarus House Ministries provides more than 1,800 bags of supplemental groceries each week, distributed in just five hours to our Guests who visit the Food Pantry. Our Soup Kitchen serves approximately 1,500 meals each week for breakfast and lunch, seven days a week, 364 days a year.
Events
Our signature events bring people together to support the mission and celebrate the impact we create throughout the Merrimack Valley. Join us to make a meaningful difference for individuals and families working towards a brighter future.
The Impact We Make Together
The people we serve are our Guests: cherished and treated with the utmost in dignity and respect. We believe that every Guest deserves the chance to thrive.
Our Community
We operate in the gateway city of Lawrence, where almost 90,000 people live in less than seven square miles. In 2025, 40% of households in this region faced food insecurity and 45% of Lawrencians received SNAP benefits. Additionally, with rapidly rising rents, these community members earning an average of $49,000 a year can no longer afford a typical apartment.
By the Numbers
In 2025, dozens of individuals and families were provided temporary shelter and longer-term transitional housing, 13 seasonal emergency response nights were held due to extreme weather conditions, more than 70,000 meals were served in the soup kitchen, and nearly 85,000 supplemental groceries bags were distributed at the food pantry.
Our supporters
Because of the abundant generosity of our individual donors, partners, volunteers, foundations, schools and faith organizations, Lazarus House can meet each individual who walks through our doors exactly where they are, and with dignity and respect.
News
Join Us for the 2026 Walk for Hope Fall Festival on September 19th
Communities are strongest when neighbors come together to support one another.
“I Feel Like a Brand-New Person” – Alicia’s Story
Shared at our 2026 Drive for Dignity Golf Tournament, Alicia, a Lazarus House Guest, tells her story of courage and perseverance.
MA food banks preparing to help feed families as SNAP benefits set to expire amid government shutdown
With 42 million Americans on the verge of losing their food stamps, several Massachusetts cities are stepping in to help.