On October 31, 1867, in the town of Berlin, Illinois (now Swedona), the doors of a new orphanage opened to receive its first ward, young Edward from Galesburg. When Edward crossed the threshold, that small step marked the beginning of a long history of service to people and communities across Illinois.
In 1871, the children moved to nearby Andover Children’s Home, in Andover, the first Lutheran charitable institution in the state and one of the earliest in the country. Dorothy Norberg, 82, a lifelong resident of Andover, remembered her arrival there. “I got to the home and they were very good to me, very compassionate and caring,” she recalled. “I had a roof over my head. I had food on the table, and I had clothes.” Norberg was later adopted into what she describe as a “loving home.”
Homes for children orphaned by a cholera epidemic expanded throughout Illinois to help dependent, abused and/or neglected children. Lutherans in Illinois continued to respond to needs in the community. The services branched out from children’s welfare into care for older adults when, in 1906, the Illinois Conference of the Augustana Synod established the Salem Home for the Aged in Joliet.
Over the years, strength came in numbers by combining efforts of the many church-based programs that were serving Illinois communities. These mergers eventually led to the formal formation of Illinois Lutheran Welfare Association, which was changed to the current name, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, in 1979. LSSI, now one of the largest statewide providers of social services in Illinois, serving people across the spectrum of age, race, income, and wellness.
The relationship between the private and public sectors has resulted in expanded human services and programing that may not have come about without the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its three Illinois synods, donors, volunteers, and community partners, as well as government support, whether direct or indirect, which have allowed LSSI to build a strong foundation and thrive.
In LSSI’s “A History of Service,” Rev. John P. Peterson wrote, “LSSI has a history that sets it apart from other organizations. At the same time, the history binds the current participants in the bond of gratitude and with a challenge to pass on to others that which has been received from the past. There is an understanding that what has ben received has been given to be nurtured and enhanced and shaped to fit the needs of the present day.”
Although much has changed throughout Illinois in the last 156 years, one thing has remained constant LSSI’s history—the commitment of people in communities to join together to care for their neighbors.
