Our Mission
1. To provide merciful relief to the suffering part of our community.
2. To provide opportunity for the community to serve the suffering.
The Foundation Shelters is dedicated to responding to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.* He calls upon each follower to respond to the needs of the downcast with a merciful heart, supplying not only words, but also and most importantly, deeds. *Matthew 25:31-46
Any church, individual, business, industry, school or court system that believes in expressing compassion to the victims of poverty and neglect, are invited to join in this effort to relieve human suffering.
The Foundation Shelters addresses the very basic needs of our Community’s most desperate citizens, the homeless. Most of our homeless residents are men with long term social and health problems that cause their homeless status. Occasionally someone with a short term problem needs our help.
While most residents are men, we usually are accommodating three or four women and occasionally mothers with children. The shelter facility is designed to totally separate women and children from the male population.
We can house 25 residents, Men's shelter capacity is 16 and women's shelter is 9. We average about 16 residents but at times we are completely full.
A bed is supplied in a warm, safe environment free of cost. Lunch and dinner are provided free of charge at the Foundation Dinners which is located 2 blocks from the shelter.
The Shelter opens at 8:00 PM in the warm season. When fall arrives and the evenings get shorter and colder the doors open at 5:30 PM, immediately after the Foundation Dinners meal. This change of opening time occurs when daylight savings time takes place.
The Foundation Shelter is a non-profit Ohio Corporation. All gifts are tax exempt as the shelter is a 501c3 Agency.
Jerry Waits | Director
Board of Directors
Ron Enlow | President
Jerry Waits | Director
Steve Templin | Staff & Resident Services Director
Makayla Puckett | Internet Communications Coordinator
Carol Craft | Member
Jean Azbell | Member
History
The Foundation was started in 1990 as the vision of Ed and Carol Clum. Gary, Ed's son, felt compelled by Jesus' Parable of the Feast (Luke 14:16-24) to have a banquet for needy people in Lancaster. After the banquet and mission trips to Brazil and Guatemala, Ed and Carol felt the Lord leading them to help vulnerable people in Lancaster. They decided to use a building Ed owned on Fifth Avenue and started inviting people off the street for a meal on a weekly basis. Before long Ed and Carol saw the need to feed people daily. The Hustler family was instrumental in helping in those early days and have faithfully continued to serve every month. Area churches became involved and The Foundation Dinners grew rapidly.
Seeing the need of shelter for the homeless population in Lancaster and Fairfield County, Ed Clum decided to create this separate organization and opened The Foundation Shelters in 1995. With a heart for the needy, Gary Clum stepped in to take over the Dinners in 2006 so that Ed could focus on the Shelters.
Ed Clum based the name on the foundation of the Bible and has dedicated his life to responding to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He says, "Jesus calls upon each follower to respond to the needs of the downcast with a merciful heart, supplying not only words, but also and most importantly, deeds." Read Matthew 25:31-46 and know that when you serve the least of these you are serving Jesus.