On January 1, 2005 Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry began administering the men's shelter at 2100 Lakeside Avenue in Cleveland. The shelter serves up to 350 men per night with an additional 30-60 beds available as needed at partner provider overflow sites.

The staff offers hope while providing tangible services for men in transition and in crisis. Six communities within the shelter address men's individual journeys, providing appropriate supports along the way: Entry, Decision, Transformation, Work, Partnership, Service. Many social service partners provide both on and off-site services to address specific issues which increase resident self-sufficiency.

The majority of funding is provided by Cuyahoga County, City of Cleveland, Veterans' Administration, FEMA, and HUD. Individuals, churches, organizations and businesses provide financial and in-kind support.

For more information contact Michael Sering, director of housing & shelter, at 216.566.0047 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For information on affordable housing visit: www.housingcleveland.org  

Portraits of Homelessness

LMM’s 2100 Lakeside Men’s Emergency Homeless Shelter is the largest shelter in Ohio, annually serving over 3,000 men who are homeless. Lydia Bailey’s Portraits of Homelessness gallery, featuring photos and stories of the shelter residents, opened January 8 at Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin, with a well-attended reception and remarks from several men who are residents of the Men’s Homeless Shelter at 2100 Lakeside.  The gallery, which includes a collection of 40-images of the men, will remain at CSU through March 31, then travel to the City Hall Rotunda for the week of April 19, followed by a display at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

Linda Bailey, photographer and Volunteer Coordinator at 2100 Lakeside Men’s Shelter, said “I have been able to see these men not as an abstract problem, but as individuals with concerns and hopes like yours and mine.  Through this show, I hope to convey their gifts and vital personalities as well as the hopeless, confusing, fearful, human elements of homelessness.”

According to Michael Sering, Director of Housing & Shelter at LMM, “In these portraits of homelessness we can see a powerful microcosm of humanity and society – strength and frailty, brokenness and resilience, hope and sorrow, and indeed potential.”