News: Older Posts
LSSI Executive Director for Children’s Community Services Jere Murry, MSW, Receives Lutheran Services in America Scion Award
Date Posted: Jul 14 2021
LSSI/Lutheran Disaster Relief of Illinois helps organize a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) for people affected by the tornado that struck Naperville, Darien and Woodridge
Date Posted: Jun 30 2021
Illinois tornado 2021: Resource center for storm victims opens Saturday in Woodridge .
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois to Honor Longtime Donors and Volunteers Beverly Moody and the late Richard Moody at Fall Gala
Date Posted: Jun 18 2021
Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness and Lutheran Social Services of Illinois Collaborate in Chicago’s Portage Park Neighborhood
Date Posted: May 28 2021
Employee and Intern Make Sensory Bottles to Give the Gift of Calm to Children Clients and their Families (Directions to Make Your Own Sensory Bottle Included)
Date Posted: Feb 22 2021
LSSI's Tatenda Perry Awarded 2021 Minority Professional Leadership Development Fellowship for Leaders in the Child Welfare Field
Date Posted: Jan 11 2021
President & CEO Mark Stutrud Reflects on the Pain of Racism, Disparity, and Inequity, and LSSI’s Role in Promoting Human Dignity
Date Posted: Jun 05 2020
In a message to LSSI's supporters, President and CEO Mark Stutrud reflects on the pain of racism, disparity, and inequity, and the organization’s role in promoting human dignity.
LSSI One of 18 Nonprofits Receiving 2nd Round Grant Funding from Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund to Support Basic Needs of Clients
Date Posted: Apr 22 2020
President & CEO Mark Stutrud Provides Update on LSSI & Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Date Posted: Mar 18 2020
LSSI CEO & Other Human Service Providers on the Effect of the Recently Passed Stop-Gap Budget
Date Posted: Jul 20 2016
While the temporary budget has helped slow the need for additional cuts, some providers say it's unlikely they will be able to bring back the programs they had to close or scale back because of a lack of state funding.
LSSI CEO Interviewed On Illinois Public Media’s The 21st
Date Posted: Jun 01 2016
Illinois has been without a state budget for 11 months. Niala Boodhoo, host of Illinois Public Media's The 21st, interviewed LSSI CEO Mark Stutrud and others about the affects of the budget impasse so far and what's next.
Illinois Budget Impasse Forces Program Closures, Staffing Cuts at Lutheran Social Services of Illinois
Date Posted: Jan 22 2016
VIDEO: LSSI Lifebook Helps Adopted Foster Child Develop Her Identity
Date Posted: Dec 08 2015
LSSI’s Lifebook, "My Awesome Life", helps Rebecca's adopted daughter put the pieces of her life together. The Lifebook exercises provide creative ways for Rebecca's daughter to process her memories as an adopted foster child. With the help of LSSI's Lifebook Specialists, Rebecca's daughter accessed letters and other materials from previous foster homes, which taught her things that she did not even know about herself!
VIDEO: LSSI Intouch Home Care Services Maximize Independence for Seniors
Date Posted: Dec 07 2015
Shirley explains how Jason, a Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) elder care coordinator, had a positive impact on her life. LSSI's Home Care Services provided Shirley with community resources that maximize her independence and enrich her life.
Dixie Downes Retires After 40 Years of Service
Date Posted: Jun 30 2015
After 40 years of faithful service to LSSI, Dixie Downes retired this week. Among many who offered words of appreciation to Dixie was LSSI Board Chair Eric Draut.
Chicago Public Radio Station WBEZ Profiles LSSI’s Lifebook Program for Children in Foster Care and Those Who Have Been Adopted
Date Posted: May 19 2015
SSI believes that every child deserves a Lifebook! Learn more about the impact of Lifebooks from this WBEZ public radio story.
“The Southern Illinoisan” Featured a Couple Whose Dreams of Parenthood Came True Through Foster Parenting & Adoption
Date Posted: May 12 2015
By age 35, Jaime Lane thought she would have it all: the husband, the house with white-picket fence, the 2.5 children and the dog. Instead, when she reached that milestone a few years back, she was divorced and without children, and wondering if her dream life would ever come true.
LSSI Receives $10,000 Grant from Employees Community Fund of Boeing Chicago/Gary
Date Posted: May 06 2015
LSSI is grateful for a $10,000 grant it received from the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Chicago/Gary for our Steps to Life program.
LSSI CEO Mark Stutrud Urges Lawmakers to Consider How Their Budget Decisions Will Impact At-Risk State Residents
Date Posted: Mar 19 2015
The Illinois legislative session is underway and lawmakers must approve a state budget on behalf of the people of Illinois by May 31. It’s no easy feat — making decisions affecting 12.8 million Illinoisians. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) urges lawmakers to consider how their decisions affect at-risk state residents.
Rich Miller, Publisher of Capitol Fax, Receives 2014 Amicus Certus Award from LSSI
Date Posted: Dec 10 2014
On Oct. 25, 2014, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) presented Rich Miller, publisher of Capitol Fax and columnist for Crain’s Chicago Business, with the organization’s 2014 Amicus Certus (“True Friend”) Award at its 33rd Amicus Certus Celebration. Held at the European Crystal in Arlington Heights, the event’s theme was “Celebrating the Land of Lincoln” and raised more than $113,000 for programs serving people in need offered by LSSI.
Online Shopping Benefits LSSI
Date Posted: Nov 11 2014
The AmazonSmile Foundation is the perfect way to combine your online shopping needs with support of your favorite charities—at no cost to you. When you sign up for AmazonSmile and choose LSSI as your charity of choice, a percentage of all purchases made on AmazonSmile—a portal to shopping on Amazon—will be automatically donated to LSSI.
Read the Fall 2014 issue of Inspired
Date Posted: Oct 08 2014
LSSI’s Lifebook Program Featured in Social Work Today
Date Posted: Oct 08 2014
Where were you born? Who are your biological parents? Where did you live when you were 6 years old? For some children, these are simple questions with answers already known or easily obtained. However, for many children in foster care and for many who are adopted, they are mysteries and blurred memories. For those without answers, not knowing can be a tragedy.
Mark A. Stutrud Named Chief Executive Officer of LSSI
Date Posted: Oct 01 2014
Mark A. Stutrud has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI). Stutrud was unanimously elected to the position at a meeting of the LSSI Board of Directors on June 23 and began Oct. 1.
Joy Medrano Appointed Vice Chair of Illinois Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
Date Posted: Jan 30 2014
Joy Medrano is the newly elected vice chairperson of the Illinois VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) which is a part of the National VOAD. National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization that serves as the forum where organizations share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle—preparation, response and recovery —to help disaster survivors and their communities.
Heading Back to the Garden
Date Posted: Jan 14 2014
“I enjoy serving people. It’s better to serve people than to be served.”
Through GRO, returning prisoners find many kinds of growth.
For Glen Rizzie, the harvest has been good. Now almost 60, the thick-bearded Carbondale native grew up with his fingers in the dirt, his earliest memories rooted in his grandfather’s backyard garden in O’Fallon. Ever since, he has worked to make things grow.