What is Mother Teresa House?
Mother Teresa House in downtown Lansing provides a home and care for people with terminal illness. With reverence for life and service love, a trained volunteer staff gives shelter, meals, personal care and round-the-clock supportive presence. Our services include much more than simply providing the physical care that is needed at the end of life. We provide a home and become a family to those we serve. There are no patients at Mother Teresa House. Those living at Mother Teresa House are our guests. Staff and volunteers offer care and presence to our guests 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Mother Teresa House accepts into our home people from any faith and culture. We serve people of all ages who suffer from any terminal illness. Several have neither family nor financial resources to obtain care from other sources. In fact, many of our guests would have died all alone if we were not here to care for them.

Who is eligible to live at Mother Teresa House?
A person with a terminal diagnosis, particularly in the last months of illness, and in Hospice care. People of any religious, social and financial background are welcome. Priority is given to helping those in greatest need of care.

How do we do this?
Because we are followers of Christ, we joyfully give this care as an expression of God's love. We value each person as a child of God. As did Mother Teresa, we welcome people of any faith to join us in serving.

How is this funded?
Integral to our mission and message, Mother Teresa House guests receive care at no charge. Caregiving hours are provided by trained volunteers and the Catholic Diocese of Lansing provides the ongoing use of the building to us at no charge. We depend solely on the generous donations of individuals, churches, service groups and businesses to cover operating expenses. Mother Teresa House is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit corporation, and donations are tax deductible.

The impact
In addition to offering care to the terminally ill, Mother Teresa House provides a living witness to the community of the dignity of each human person, especially the most vulnerable. This witness has reached far beyond our local area. The ministry of Mother Teresa House has touched the lives of people from around the country. Some have used our organizational structure as a model for the foundation of similar homes in other communities and in other states. Mother Teresa House also provides training and education through the generous labors of our small staff to the over 70 volunteers who are needed on a weekly basis to care for our guests. The Lansing community now has over 400 people who have hands-on training to care for the terminally ill as a result of the efforts of Mother Teresa House. We are helping to educate tomorrow's healthcare workers as well as preparing lay people within the community to care for their loved ones when they face death.