Lutheran Services in America (LSA) convened with Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) and several of the nation's largest humanitarian organizations on February 14, 2014 for a CEO Roundtable that resulted in the discovery of opportunities to educate, innovate and act to reduce poverty in the United States based on the needs of our time.
LSA is excited to welcome Nathan King and Caleb Rollins to the LSA team for the 2014 CAPS Fellows Program internship. Nathan and Caleb join us from Valparaiso University, a Lutheran institution founded in 1859 and located about an hour outside of Chicago in Indiana. Nathan is currently pursuing a major in Digital Media with a Theology minor and will provide advocacy support to Bob Francis, Director of Advocacy and Policy for LSA. As an International Service major and Philanthropic Leadership and Service minor, Caleb will work with Charlotte Haberaecker, President and CEO of LSA, on fund development.
When I hopped on a plane departing from Reagan National Airport in December 2013, I knew I wasn't leaving D.C. for the final time. After spending a semester studying and interning in the District through the Lutheran College Washington Semester, I was confident that I wanted to return to Washington at some point, but I knew figuring out my return would be a long row to hoe. It's funny how things work out.
On Tuesday evening, July 16, Lutheran Services in America joined Catholic Charities USA, Entergy, and other collaborators in the Future Without Poverty coalition to put on a poverty simulation for members of Congress and their senior staff in the Capitol Visitors Center. Representatives Jim McGovern (D-N.Y.), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) co-sponsored this bipartisan event that hosted nearly a dozen House members. Many of the members of Congress who attended stressed the importance of trying to understand the difficulties that low-income families face in order to effectively combat the War on Poverty.
"Poor people are the hardest working people in America." This is what Representative Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) told the crowd at the poverty simulation for members of Congress and their senior staff on Tuesday at the Capitol Visitor Center. Catholic Charities USA and Entergy (an energy company that works in AR, LA, MS, and TX) hosted this event that received bipartisan support and was attended by nearly one dozen members of the House.
Nine weeks sure can go by quickly. It seems like just yesterday Caleb (Rollins) and I were settling into our positions as CAPS Fellows here in D.C., and with the turn of the calendar, our final day at LSA has passed.
Earlier this summer, we asked LSA members to take part in a survey about their public policy and advocacy practices and priorities. Our goal was to fine-tune our understanding about what advocacy activities are currently of the most value to our member organizations. Among the highlights of the findings: 88% of LSA's members participate in
Washington, D.C. (March 24, 2014). – On Wednesday, April 2 at 9am, Catholic Charities USA, joined by academics, policymakers and non-profit leaders, will host the 3rd Annual National Poverty Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit will showcase the innovative approaches and passionate commitment that so many individuals and organizations exhibit each and every day to ending poverty in America and strengthening our nation so that everyone, regardless of their background or socioeconomic status, has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Three Class A Board members for the LSA Board of Directors were elected by the membership at the 2014 Annual Meeting:
Annually, UST reviews each member's account and determines if a release of funds should be made to the member. Their goal is to make sure an agency is properly funded for the payment of unemployment claims but not to hold more of their money than is necessary to meet those obligations.
