Join LSG for Lutheran Night at the Gwinnett Gladiators and Lutheran Day at Georgia Tech!

Lutheran Services of Georgia will be teaming up with Georgia Tech Basketball and the Gwinnett Gladiators to host two Lutheran-themed sports days. The proceeds from Lutheran Day at Georgia Tech will benefit various LSG programs, while Lutheran Night at the Gwinnett Gladiators will benefit Refugee Services. Come show your team spirit for a good cause!

Lutheran Night at the Gwinnett Gladiators Saturday, February 11 at 7:05 p.m. Gwinnett Gladiators vs. Chicago Express Arena at Gwinnett Center $15 per ticket, $5 for Frenzy Night

The Metro Atlanta Chapters of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will provide matching funds for a portion of each ticket cost. To order tickets, click here. Deadline for ticket orders is February 1.

Lutheran Day at Georgia Tech Saturday, February 25 at 2:30 p.m. Georgia Tech vs. University of Maryland Philips Arena $30 per ticket

Contact Mary Kay Kates at 678-686-9601 to order tickets or e-mail Bob Gibeling at bgibeling@lsga.org for more information.

MLK Day of Service for Refugees

More than 350 kids, families, and individuals came together on January 16 for MLK Day of Service at the Clarkston Community Center. The day's service projects benefited the Clarkston community, particularly the area's refugee population, many of whom are LSG clients. Activities included packaging rice, packing pots and pans, assembling hygiene kits for newly arrived families, and a Clarkston community clean-up. All said, volunteers picked up 84 bags of trash equaling 1,680 pounds, made 240 hygiene kits, painted walls, dug post holes, demolished a sign, sanded wood, and bagged over a ton of rice!

Thank you to all those who participated and helped ease the transition for refugees in Georgia!

CEO and President Gary Danielsen: January Updates

It is with great pleasure that I introduce Rachel Castillo as LSG’s new Director of Operations. In this capacity, Rachel will oversee the agency’s Quality Assurance and Risk Management programs, new program initiatives, communication functions and the implementation of the Strategic Plan. She will also aid in the integration of policies and procedures as it pertains to the agency as a whole. Rachel comes to LSG from serving for many years with the Salvation Army in Boston, New York, and Georgia, where she served as the State Director of Social Services. Rachel and her husband Noe have three children (ages 7, 9, and 17) and live in Marietta. During the last few months, the state demonstrated a reluctance to support essential services to refugees by holding back federal funds. This affected all agencies helping refugees, including LSG. After a quickly developed advocacy campaign emerged, the state officials followed thorough in honoring the contracts (that were set to start October 1) in late December. However, it is feared by many that there are some who are working to prevent not only illegal immigrants but legal immigrants, such as refugees, from coming to Georgia. Many in our community underestimate the importance, value, and contributions refugees bring to our community. We will keep you posted as events unfold.

In other LSG news, the Christmas Angel Tree campaign resulted in over 1,500 gifts with a value of over $45,000 for children, families, and individuals throughout the state. These donations were made by generous and compassionate members of congregations and the community who desired to help each person feel valued and cared for during the Christmas season. To those who participated, THANK YOU!

“…as you have done it to the least of these, who are members of my family, you have done it also to me.”

To God be the glory,

Gary

ADOPTION: More Families, More Placements in 2012

As we move into the New Year, our Adoption staff has renewed their passion and commitment to finding families for children waiting for a permanent home. We have scheduled IMPACT training classes for parents who want to adopt from the foster care system, and have also scheduled our Cooperative Open Adoption training for parents wanting to adopt newborn infants. IMPACT is scheduled at theAtlantaoffice on January 21 and 22. The Cooperative Open Adoption Training for Parents is scheduled for February 4, 2012. We have invited 14 prospective adoptive families for IMPACT and have extended the invitation for the class to foster families needing to be trained as well. We have invited 25 prospective adoptive families to the newborn infant training.  Families may be trained in both programs if they wish to be considered for children as they are available and need homes, whether they are infants or older children.

The Adoption Program has approximately 35 approved homes watching to be matched with a child at any given time.

Please contact either Anne Boyte at aboyte@lsga.org or Electra Evans at eevans@lsga.org if you have any questions about either of these classes.

Refugee Services: (Eto) Nouraldin Abdalla Hopes for Peaceful Life

Nouraldin Abdalla is from Sudan.  One day the rest of his family went to work at their farm, but Nouraldin stayed home.  That was the day that war broke out in Sudan.  Nouraldin was 16 years old.  Separated from his family and not knowing if they were safe, he had to flee for his safety to another city in Sudan and then to Libya.  From Libya, he fled with other Sudanese in a boat hoping to go to Italy, but arrived in Malta instead. In Malta, he was in detention for six months, which is typical for refugees.  Detention was hard for him.  He was terribly lonely having lost his family and lifelong best friends. The food was unfamiliar and he lost a lot of weight.  He had difficulty communicating with others and felt isolated.  Even though many other detainees were from Africa, they were from many different countries and cultures that were unfamiliar to Nouraldin.

After six months, he received permission to stay in Malta for one year.  He renewed this status for three years, until he eventually received refugee status and was resettled by LSG in the U.S. in 2010.  It was only when he arrived in the U.S.that Nouraldin learned that his family (his parents and six siblings) was safe inSudan.  When the war started, they had lived for a time in a refugee camp and now they are in a city in South Darfur, safe but unable to leave the city. Nouraldin communicates with them by phone.

Now that he’s been in the U.S. for almost a year, Nouraldin is hopeful.  He works as a banquet server at the Georgia Dome.  He likes his job a lot, especially the chance to improve his English as he meets new people through his job.  He’s attending an ESL class at the Clarkston Community Center that is preparing him to take the GED.  He hopes to educate himself so that he can help people.  He wants to see his family again and for his family to one day join him in the U.S.   But most of all, he hopes that he, and someday is family too, can always live in peace.

Adoption: Creating Holiday Traditions and Rituals in Adoptive Families

Many children who have been placed for adoption from foster care have anxiety and uncertainty about holidays and the expectations these times carry.  It is helpful for adoptive families to quickly establish rituals and traditions that embrace their newly formed family members, so the child can feel a part of a heritage that is significant fro the family. Traditions such as these help create bonds in adoptive families. The most enduring traditions cost little money, but help everyone feel special. . Your family traditions will remain important as your child becomes an adult.

One way the adoption staff at Lutheran Services of Georgia helps families build these holiday traditions is through our annual Adoptive Family Christmas Party. This year Andrew Willis was our Santa Claus, juggling several pillows to stuff his Santa suit! We also have a volunteer who annually offers her services as a clown teaching the children to make animal shapes out of balloons and keeping them enthralled with her pink hair and colorful clown garments. Families are asked to bring a dish to share and the children often help in the preparation of a holiday favorite from their home.

What we have discovered over the years is that families early in placement come in numbers to the party but as time moves forward and they develop strong traditions of their own, the tether to the agency is gradually released.  We are thrilled to see this as we know this means the adoption is no longer the primary focus of the family life. We do see families who adopt newborn infants return year after year to share with great pride their bundle of joy’s growth and development.

On December 4, 2011, we had between 50-60 people attend our annual Adoptive Family Christmas Party. Several families returned as they are now ready for placement of additional children from foster care.

We feel very blessed to be a part of the children’s transition to permanency, love and a nurturing family to grow up in. This has become a seasonal tradition we are proud to offer our families.

UPDATE: Refugee Services Contracts Signed!

We are happy to share that today Commissioner Clyde Reese signed and executed contracts approving $4.1 million in federal funds mandated to provide support services for refugees inGeorgiavia social service agencies such as Lutheran Services of Georgia (LSG). LSG would like to offer its sincerest thanks and gratitude to Commissioner Reese, Governor Deal, and all of those who have supported us by working to bring about the approval of these funds.  The outpour of round-the-clock phone calls, e-mails, and letters the state received from congregations, organizations, and citizens no doubt played a tremendous role in bringing about the release of this vital funding. Elected officials of the city ofClarkston,DeKalbCountyand Georgia General Assembly, as well as statewide, were also extraordinarily helpful, for which we are infinitely appreciative.

We are glad the state recognizes that refugees are an incredible strength to the state ofGeorgiaand will support the continuance of these programs to help them achieve self-sufficiency. The entire refugee-serving community relies on this federal funding to provide a wide variety of direct services to both newly arrived and established refugee clients, including employment training, job placement, medical assistance, and home management support.

Refugees supported by these programs upon arrival contribute to society in a number positive, meaningful ways, not the least of which is economic. One of the primary goals of Lutheran Services of Georgia’s refugee services division is providing refugees with stable employment. Once employed, refugees add to the workforce, broaden the local tax base, and provide employers with quality workers. Refugees then use their wages to purchase local goods, which provides a further boost to the local economy.

LSG is extremely thankful that refugees can continue to find a welcome home inGeorgia, a state that has embraced the rich tradition of welcoming refugees as they rebuild their lives and meaningfully contribute to local communities. Thank you to all those who stepped up to support refugees and the services LSG provides to help them establish stable foundations for their new lives inGeorgia.

Please take a moment to write a personal email of support to the local, state, and federal elected officials who came out in support of the refugee community. Thank them for their support of refugees during this difficult episode, and along with the elected officials in your own district, let them know that you support refugee resettlement in Georgia.

Find your elected officials here:  http://www.votesmart.org/officials/NA/G

City of Clarkston: Mayor eransom@cityofclarkston.com;

City Manager kbarker@cityofclarkston.com;

City Council whadlock@cityofclarkston.com; dmoore@cityofclarkston.com; jswaney@cityofclarkston.com; awhite@cityofclarkston.com; dleonetti@cityofclarkston.com; jbrown@cityofclarkston.com;

DeKalb County: CEO and area Commissioners: ceo@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov; sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov;

State Representative Karla Drenner dren16999@aol.com State Senator Steve Henson stevehenson@mindspring.com DHS Commissioner creese@dhr.state.ga.us

Links to contact pages:

Governor Deal

Senator Isakson

Senator Chambliss

Representative Johnson

PLEASE ATTEND: Public Meeting About State Refugee Funding to be Held on Wednesday, 12/14

For those interested in learning more about the current issue of the state withholding funding for refugee services, there will be a special meeting of the Georgia Coalition of Refugee Stakeholders held on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to noon at the Clarkston Community Center located at 3701 College Avenue; Clarkston, Georgia 30021.  The meeting is open to the public and will serve as a community listening session.  In attendance will be George Shelton, Acting Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families; Eskinder Negash, Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement; Diane Dawson, Director of the Office of Regional Operations, Administration for Children and Families; Carliss Williams, Regional Administrator, Administration for Children and Families; and Kenneth Jackson, Deputy Regional Administrator, Administration for Children and Families. Unfortunately neither DHS Commissioner Clyde Reese nor a representative from the Governor’s Office is scheduled to attend. LSG encourages all concerned citizens to both attend the meeting and contact Commissioner Reese and Governor Deal asking them to attend also. Your presence and participation at the meeting can help bring about a resolution to this urgent issue.

URGENT: Advocacy Alert for Refugee Services

LSG provides a wide variety of direct services to both newly arrived and established refugee clients, supported by federal funding administered through Georgia's Department of Human Services (DHS). With this funding LSG specifically provides employment training and job placement as well as assistance in addressing medical concerns and home management support designed to help refugees achieve self-sufficiency as soon as possible.

The contract year for these services began on October 1. To our dismay, we have been informed by officials of Georgia's DHS that they are under no obligation to pay for any services related to these federally funded programs until the contracts are signed. This left us with no option but to suspend these services to our clients since we have no idea if or when the contracts will be signed.

Today, LSG laid off eight Refugee Services staff members and stopped employment training, job placement and social adjustment services to our refugee clients. The suspension, or possible loss, of this federal funding, already distributed and being held by the state, will be strongly felt not only by the refugee population but also by every Georgia resident.

The entire refugee services community hopes for prompt resolution of the barriers that stand between us and delivery of these critical services.  You can help relieve this situation by contacting DHS Commissioner Clyde Reese at 404-463-3390 or creese@dhr.state.ga.us and Governor Nathan Deal at 404-656-1776 or click here. Ask them to sign the refugee services contracts and release the funding held by the state to provide these vital services to the refugee population. For suggestions on how to communicate your concerns, please click here.  And please forward this information to your network so that we can demonstrate that this issue has broad support from our community: friends, family, coworkers, congregation members, etc. Thank you for your support during this critical time.

Once you have contacted Governor Deal or Commissioner Reese, please let us know what response you receive, or if you have additional questions, by contacting J.D. McCrary, director of Refugee Services, at jmccrary@lsga.org or 678-686-9643.

Foster Care Welcomes New Staff

Foster Care is pleased that La Shondra Randolph has stepped in as a temporary case manager while Lauren Lewin is on maternity leave. La Shondra has a Bachelor’s Degree from Alabama A&M Universityin Psychology with a concentration in Human Development and Family Studies, and has previously worked for the Fulton County Department of Family & Children Services in the Special Investigations Department. Rose Edward, our new recruiter, originally from theVirgin Islands, obtained her Bachelor’s in Social work from Buffalo State College and Master’s in the same area from the University of Buffalo, New York. Before working for Fulton County Department of Family & Children Services for five years as a Social Service Specialist, Rose spent four years atAnchorHospitalas a Social Worker.

Kenya Williams, Foster Care’s new Case Manager, has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Florida A&M.Kenyaspent the last four years at Dekalb County Department of Family and Children Services.Kenyais originally fromSyracuse,New York.

FIS: LSG Receives Grant to Help Maintain Family Bonds, Stability

For the Fiscal Year 2011-2012, Lutheran Services of Georgia was awarded a substantial amount from Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF). The grant award was far greater than what was gifted in FY 2010-2011. Last year, LSG was awarded a little over $90,000 and this year Family Intervention Services (FIS) was awarded more than $270,000.   Family Intervention Services is one of LSG’s newest programs and is an integral part of the Continuum of Care Model that provides services throughout a person’s lifetime. LSG is proud to be a continuing PSSF grant recipient as the primary goals of PSSF are to prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families, improve the quality of care and services to children and their families, and ensure permanency for children. Family Intervention Services offers a variety of services to families that are consistent with the mission of the PSSF grant. The two primary programs that FIS offers services through are Supervised Family Visitation program and the A+ Parents program.

The Supervised Family Visitation program provides quality supervised family visitation between children and parents, relatives, care givers, and/or siblings. Visitation is provided in a home-like, nonthreatening, and neutral environment for meaningful contact between children and the people in their lives.  This program focuses on reunification efforts and maintaining family bonds.  Similarly, the A+ Parents program works diligently to improve both parents’, caregivers’, and children’s self esteem and skills with use of the Nurturing Parenting Program and SafeCare curriculum in a classroom or home setting. The program does this through eight 2.5 hour classes.

The staff in Family Intervention Services works diligently on seeing the results of these programs and continues to do a great job at carrying out the mission of PSSF which is why we are elated with the award gifted this year. For more information on Family Intervention Services call 404-591-7051 or send an email of inquiry to lsg@lsga.org.

Volunteer Appreciation Night a Success!

As an expression of gratitude for our volunteers’ loyal service, Lutheran Services of Georgia hosted a special Volunteer Appreciation Night on Tuesday, November 1. Held at the Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum, the night featured free admission to the national exhibit, “Torn from Home: My Life as a Refugee.” The exhibit provided an interactive refugee camp experience for people of all ages, allowing visitors to consider how it feels to flee home, leave everything behind, and face the future with uncertainty and hope.

The night also featured a program of recognition for LSG volunteers, including the LSG’s first annual “Hands of Hope, Healing, and Strength” awards for volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service. LSG also recognized volunteer Jimmy Ramsey with the 2011 Elsie Guenther Volunteer of the Year Award for his outstanding service teaching ESL classes to LSG’s refugee clients. Congratulations to Jimmy and all of the other award recipients, and thank you to all LSG volunteers for your service, time, and dedication!

Foster Care: Mark Your Calendars for LSG's Annual Holiday Party

Signs of winter’s approach are all around, which can only mean one thing – it’s that time of year again! On December 10, 2011, LSG’S FACES and Foster Care departments are hosting an annual Holiday Party for all clients and families, hosted at The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer inAtlanta. The party is a time to celebrate a wonderful year with the caregivers and participants of Community and Placement Services here at LSG. There will be all sorts of fun activities at the holiday party like face painting, a table for making holiday cards, and door prizes. There’s a rumor that Santa may make an appearance… LSG is continuing its tradition of participating in the Angel Tree program in which churches or individuals gift children and families items according to the family’s requests for the holidays. We look forward to seeing the smiles on all of our family’s faces and can’t wait to see everyone and have a wonderful time.

Foster Care appreciates each donated gift, and welcomes all donations of food, baked goods, monetary gifts, door prizes and toys for the purpose of the party. If you wish to contribute call Taylor Brand at 404-591-7035 or send an email to tbrand@lsga.org.

Foster Care: Donations Needed Today for Sick Child

Next week, Lutheran Services of Georgia Foster Care will be bringing in a group of three siblings. The oldest child is medically fragile and is only 3 years old, meaning his foster mother will have to bring him to the doctor on a weekly basis.  To help the foster mother provide the highest quality of care for this child, we are asking for donations of the following items:

• Double stroller
• Crib
• Diapers and wipes

To donate any of these items please contact Taylor Brand at tbrand@lsga.org or 404-591-7035. Your contributions will make a difference in this child’s life. Thank you for your help and support!

Join Us for LSG's Volunteer Appreciation Night!

Lutheran Services of Georgia invites you to join us for a special Volunteer Appreciation Night on Tuesday, November 1, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. (with exhibit open prior to the event from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for those coming straight from work).  The event will feature free admission to the national exhibit, "Torn From Home: My Life As a Refugee," on tour in Atlanta at the Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum, which provides an interactive refugee camp experience for people of all ages. Through this inspiring, hands-on journey, visitors of all ages can explore what it means to be a refugee, and better understand their hardships and hope for a brighter future.

Today, more than 30 million people around the world have been displaced due to war and violence, making nearly 10 million children refugees. Through this inspiring, hands-on journey, visitors of all ages can explore what it means to be a refugee, and better understand their hardships and hope for a brighter future. With seven interactive areas, this awe-inspiring exhibit encourages visitors to consider how it feels to flee home, leave everything behind, and face the future with uncertainty and hope.

Volunteer Appreciation Night will also include light refreshments and a program of recognition for LSG volunteers. Please let us know if you plan to join us by registering online by October 26. For more information on the event contact Melanie Johnson at 678-686-9619 or mjohnson@lsga.org. We look forward to seeing you there!

FIS: Open Letter from a Former Client

Family Intervention Services recently received a letter of gratitude from a former client that warmed our hearts and reminded us all why we continue in this difficult but incredibly rewarding work. FIS is pleased that our services were so helpful for this family and hope that we can continue to have a similar effect on each family we provide services to in the future. Thank you, Mr. Spears. Mrs. Williams,

I am so thankful that we got to meet you and the wonderful people at Lutheran Services of Georgia. I must say that after seeing many counselors through our very troubling divorce, I was less than impressed and did not expect very much to come out of seeing anyone else. This was due to the fact that no one was willing to voice their opinions or truly get involved. I am so happy that you and your staff took the time and effort to get to know us and our situation and actually get involved in an effort to do what was best for our children. Thank you so much from my children and my self for all the time and effort that you put into our case. If there is anything that I can do to help you guys out in the future in the form of donating time or services please let me know.

 Sincerely,

 Chris Spears

FACES: Golf Tournament Brings LSG Supporters Together

FACES State Manager Ryan Whitmire reflects on those he met and made memories with at the October 17th Atlanta Golf Classic 

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to play in the LSG Atlanta Golf Classic at Heritage Links Golf Course in Tucker, GA.  My supervisor and Program ExecutiveGary Johnstone and I were paired with two exceptional supporters of LSG.  It was a pleasure to meet and play golf with Bill Arndt and Jean Mori.  Bill is a former University of Texas football player and graduate.  He is member of Rivercliff Lutheran Church in Roswell, and retired from Lockheed-Martin.  Jean is a Georgia Tech graduate – as a Dawg fan, I will not hold that against him.  He also earned his MBA from Emory University.  He and his wife founded Mori Luggage and Gifts and were recently honored as LSG’s Heroes for Hope, Healing and Strength.

I personally had the most fun playing golf in a long time.  Not only because we shot 12 under par and were “draining” putts from all over the green, but because the conversations and laughs we had.  Though we did not win, it was a beautiful day on the course and we had a great time.   Through the support of great people like Jean and Bill, LSG is able to provide services to people in need all over the State of Georgia.  Without the continued support of great people, LSG could not bring hope and healing through the services we provide.

Thank you to Jean, Bill and everyone that came out to support LSG.

Ryan Whitmire State FACES Manager

Family Intervention Services: Deborah Battle Celebrates 10 Years with LSG

LSG congratulates FIS' Deborah Battle on 10 years with the agency, and looks forward to many more! When Deborah Battle obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, she was unsure of the direction she would go in so she stayed at her alma mater working in the Financial Aid Office immediately after college. Unbeknownst to Deborah, her best friend submitted her resume to NYC’s Child Welfare Administration where she worked for five short months. Unhappy with the idea of removing children from their homes, Deborah decided to go work for Little Flower Children’s Services where she quickly worked her way up to a supervising position. During her eight years at Little Flower Children’s Services, Deborah felt like she was doing more of helping families rather than disrupting them. This fulfillment made it hard for Deborah to depart when her family decided to move to Georgia.

While working for Department of Family and Children Services in the Foster Care division, Deborah met Kathy Sullivan who was the Lutheran Services of Georgia (LSG) Foster Care Supervisor at the time. Sullivan took note of Deborah’s superior case management skills and hired her on October 1, 2001. Foster Care has grown tremendously since Deborah started in 2001. The staff was much smaller, there were only three case managers and a supervisor and there were no satellite offices. In the ten years that Deborah has been with LSG she has served as a case manager, lead case manager, and recruiter, and has done agency intake as well as home study writing and more recently a trainer. Wearing many hats has been something that Deborah has come to appreciate, citing it as a way for her to learn so much and a way to never get bored here at LSG.

When asked what her plans with LSG were for the next decade, she replied “I’d like to continue to do training and working with FIS. I enjoy what I do, but eventually I’d like to be out of the ‘field’ altogether. I’m getting to old for the all of the driving.” She also believes that LSG is a Blessed agency and believes in the mission. She also added, “I am comfortable here; I love the people that I work with too. Sometimes I wonder if I am missing out on something when others leave, but then when I get to the see a child happy, healthy and progressing after they have been with and LSG home, the reward is immeasurable”.

Deborah has been an exceptional asset to Lutheran Services of Georgia and we congratulate her on 10 years of service with the agency and wish her many more pleasant years to come.

Refugee Services: Remembering Kay Trendell - Endings and Beginnings

Refugee Services volunteer coordinator Melanie Johnson says goodbye to friend and mentor Kay Trendell, and reflects on her own journey with LSG

With Kay Trendell’s recent retirement from LSG after her 30 year tenure with Refugee Services, I’ve been thinking a lot about my beginnings with the agency (I’ve had two of them so far) and Kay’s significant role in both!  My first “beginning” more than 20 years ago when I was hired as the Special Needs Employment Counselor for refugees receiving cash assistance from the state of Georgia, the ones who had the most barriers to employment.

Fresh out of seminary, with a little urban ministry experience and a lot of passion for working cross-culturally but absolutely no concrete skills in finding jobs for anyone but myself, I happened to get lucky and got to share an office with Kay!  She taught me not only everything I needed to know about finding jobs for refugees, but more importantly she helped me grasp the bigger picture – that it wasn’t just about the jobs, but about the refugees and the new life they were beginning in a new country.  It wasn’t about the refugees' plight, but their promise, their incredible resilience, and their willingness to work sometimes three jobs at once to save and build a future for their children.

After several years, I went on to work in other avenues of ministry in both congregations and in the community, but through Kay’s mentorship, refugees had found a place in my heart to stay.  If there was any opportunity to engage with refugees in whatever work I was doing, I always sought that out. I found that I missed working with refugees more and more as the years passed, thus my second “beginning” with LSG when, in May 2010, Kay hired me to be the volunteer coordinator for Refugee Services.  It’s a “dream job’ for me – being back with Lutheran Services of Georgia (I’m actually a Lutheran now and grateful to serve in a Lutheran agency), working in a multicultural setting again, and every day engaging people and congregations in service to one of the world’s most vulnerable, yet most resilient populations – refugees.  But by far, one of the best things about my second “beginning” with LSG has been, for the past year, getting to work with Kay again.

Kay, I’ll miss seeing you everyday - but your lasting presence will be felt at LSG and in Refugee Services: in the talented and dedicated staff you put together, in the wonderful array of programs and services for refugees you developed, and undergirding it all, in the joy we experience (most of the time!) in the work we do.  Enjoy your new beginning!

By Melanie Johnson, Refugee Services Volunteer Coordinator

Adoption: The Difficulties of Finding Homes for Older Children

One of our major challenges in the adoption program is finding a permanent family for older children.  The average age of a child waiting for a permanent family in theU.S.foster care system is approximately 8 years old.   Parenting older children presents many challenges.   Loss is a significant experience and often is repeated.   These experiences may leave them with unresolved emotional issues.    Often these children experience multiple models of parenting and expectations. Yet, according to our successful adoptive parents, adopting an older child can be a great joy and gives a child a since of security, love and belonging.   Parents adopting older children need community and familial support, and an understanding of themselves and their own issues.

Our agency welcomes families who are willing to open their hearts and homes to older children to meet this great need.  To support this effort, the federal government offers States incentives to States to provide permanent adoptive families to children in foster care.   The State and Federal Government Office offer assistance, medical insurance and supportive services to families adopting older children.

www.adoptionissues.org/adopting_older_children.html