One of President George W. Bush’s controversial ideas has been
to support
”
Faith Based Initiatives,
”
religious organizations engaged in providing services
 to communities in need. Last month, members of Morgan Hill’s
Advent Lutheran Church heard how their denomination is involved in
this effort.
One of President George W. Bush’s controversial ideas has been to support “Faith Based Initiatives,” religious organizations engaged in providing services to communities in need. Last month, members of Morgan Hill’s Advent Lutheran Church heard how their denomination is involved in this effort.
Barbara Droher Kline, MSW, is president of Lutheran Social Services of Northern California. She traveled from her office in Concord, a facility which is representative of her agency’s mission. A few years ago the congregation of Concord Lutheran Church disbanded and gave its 2.5 acre property to Lutheran Social Services of Northern California. Since then, the buildings have been used for agency offices, a public health clinic and soon will provide 48 units of affordable housing.
LSS-Norcal is dedicated to “responding to the biblical mandates of compassion and justice. It affirms the inherent worth of all people and strives to prevent and alleviate human suffering.” All services are provided strictly without regard to religious affiliation.
The agency is supported financially by 390 congregations of both the Lutheran Church-Missourri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from throughout Northern California and Northern Nevada. It is part of a network of nearly 300 Lutheran social service organizations nationally that provide a variety of services. It currently serves more than 2,000 clients in Sacramento, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties.
One major focus is youth who were formerly in foster care. When they become 18, they are legally “emancipated,” which means thrust out of the system to survive on their own. A recent study found that “25 percent end up as homeless adults, 50 percent are arrested and half of the young women become mothers and dependent on welfare within five years.”
To combat this problem, LSS-Norcal offers places like Adolpho, homes in Stockton and Sacramento which give these youth a place to live while they learn life skills and find jobs.
Another important program is the Lutheran Katrina Recovery Ministry which assists evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who are living in Northern California. Although this disaster occurred almost two years ago, there are hundreds of survivors who still require help.
LSS-Norcal also provides Money Management Services to many clients. For example, “Phoenix” was evicted from his apartment in 2002 because his addiction to crystal methanphetamine kept him from paying his rent. For several years, LSS-Norcal collected his welfare benefits and paid his bills with the money, slowly teaching him financial skills until he could be self-sufficient with a checking account and decent credit.
The agency is also active in the area of disaster relief. It intends “not only to be present at the time of crisis, but also throughout all the stages of disaster recovery.” It identifies potential disasters, plans responses and works with local congregations and other aid agencies to deliver emergency services.
For more information, call (925) 825-1060 or visit www.lssnorcal.org.
