LSA News

… Deep in the heart of Texas! The LSA team looks forward to welcoming you to the 2015 Annual Conference, which will be held in April in scenic San Antonio, Texas.

If you're attending the 2014 LeadingAge Annual Meeting and Expo in Nashville, please plan to attend the LSA Member Reception on Sunday, October 19, 2014 from 5:30-7:00pm in the Cumberland 1-2 room at the Omni Nashville. Bring your staff, friends, and family to this special event and network among fellow LSA members while enjoying refreshments and hors d'oeuvres.

Shannon Steene of LSA's Member Engagement team has been on the road lately, visiting members of Lutheran Services in America. Did you know that LSA's network is made up of more than 300 organizations, which provide care to six million people a year? Thank you to all the hard-working people that provide care and hope to people in need throughout the U.S.

LSA welcomed nearly 100 attendees to our Member Reception at the LeadingAge Annual Meeting & Expo on Sunday, October 19 in Nashville, TN. Held at the Omni Nashville, this special event welcomed LSA members alongside their staff and family members. Attendees were joined by LSA President and CEO, Charlotte Haberaecker, and Director of Member Engagement, Shannon Steene, for an evening of sharing and connection.

March 26-27, Alesia Frerichs, VP of Member Engagement for LSA, took part in a conference with SAMSHA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, to represent the Lutheran Services in America network and our 300 members.

If you haven’t booked your air travel to San Antonio yet for the Annual Conference, Southwest Airlines is currently running a sale. Book by April 6 to take advantage of discounted rates.

With more than 100 LSA members serving children, youth and families in 33 states across the country, the LSA network has a dominant national child welfare presence. LSA members provide a broad range of services from foster care and adoption to counseling, housing, health care, mental health care, early childhood education, charter schools, alternatives to detention, Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) foster care programs, and programs for youth aging out of foster care. In the past year the LSA Children, Youth and Family (CYF) Working Group was formed to focus on youth aging out of the foster care system and how we can work collectively as a network to address the challenges and opportunities inherent with this issue.

Wendy Goldstein, President and CEO of Lutheran HealthCare, was honored as one of Brooklyn’s Women of Distinction at a special event on May 21. This annual award recognizes women who have displayed exemplary leadership in the borough. In the article titled, “Hospital Boss Heals Ailing Institution,” Ms. Goldstein is commended for her remarkable revival of the Lutheran Medical Center; she reinvigorated the institution's Lutheran roots and created an open and accepting environment for treatment.

LSA congratulates Community Family Life Services (CFLS) on being named the 2014 Nonprofit Organization of the Year by the DC Chamber of Commerce. According to the DC Chamber of Commerce website, CFLS is being recognized for their outstanding achievements in support of those suffering from homelessness and poverty.

In a few weeks, Lutheran Services in America members and our social ministry community will celebrate the strength of our network at the LSA Annual Conference, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, April 20-23.

Our theme for this year's conference is "Farther Together: Stronger Tomorrow" – which speaks to our collective journey to strengthen Lutheran social ministry and our network.