This month, Jobs for Life hosted our Annual Global Leadership Conference (formerly GLN). Industry leaders from the US, Australia, Mexico who shared on the nature of their work and the impact of a holistic model in serving the needs of the poor and marginalized (To view event recording, contact info@jobsforlife.org).

From working with those who are homeless in California to Raleigh, to those who are trapped in poverty and life-controlling addictions, our leaders consistently shared the need to serve the whole person. That would mean in Mexico’s case creating a small business model of jewelry-making for the women whom they serve. That would mean creating a “Welcome Center” for the homeless in California. Jobs for Life partners with organizations like these daily but it must be part of a holistic system of care that involves relationship building and the dignity and respect of each person, individually. How this is manifested looks different in each organization as we heard at our conference. We get the opportunity to be part of a system of care, for those who work with not only the homeless, incarcerated, young adults, high schoolers, crisis pregnancy, working poor, abused women, veterans, seniors, and a host of other demographics, lives have been transformed when we serve holistically.

Ministry Spotlight: We Are Lazarus Ministry, Atlanta, GA

“We foster kinship with people on the margins in order to transform lives in meaningful and tangible ways.”

I got the opportunity to visit with the leaders of We Are Lazarus Ministry this April and was blown away by the work of they have been doing in collaboration with Atlanta Mission and churches in Atlanta. GA. They too embody this holistic model of life transformation.

“At Lazarus, people can volunteer and people can receive help, but the heart of our cause is much deeper than that: we believe we belong to each other. The relationships that are built bring hope, redemption, empathy, and love to all who are involved. It’s these long-term relationships that provide the real, life-long transformation to create meaningful change, affecting future generations.”