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 Message
from CEO Doug Johnson:
Our clients’ lives light up when they succeed.
You should see the smile on the face of a young man with a disability when he talks about moving into his first solo apartment.
Or, see the excitement of a new dad watching his toddler daughter meet her milestones.
You should hear the pride in a grandmother’s voice as she talks about the healthy, healing choices her grandchild is now making.
Many of our clients have faced a rough road. You may try to put yourself in their shoes, but in the end, they’ve experienced challenges we can’t imagine.
So, when they get the tools to succeed and honest encouragement that empowers, it can be truly transformative.
Like the smile on a young man’s face. Like the brilliance of fireworks in a night sky.
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Mission:
Lutheran Services in Iowa responds to the love of Jesus Christ
through acts of service to all.
Vision:
Called by God's spirit and in response to Christ's love,
this social ministry organization of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America will serve as Jesus served. As a part of
the Church's mission, we trust God will work through us to
bring health, hope and healing to the world and to advocate
for the dignity of our neighbors in community.
Values:
Respect – Every person is
a unique gift of God and will be served with dignity and
humility.
Stewardship – We
are responsible to God, the Church and society for the effective
and efficient use of all our
resources.
Advocacy – We are responsible for giving
voice to those who are not heard, for seeking social justice
and for empowering
people.
Excellence – Integrity, compassion, teamwork,
continuous learning and innovation enhance the quality of
service.
Who do we serve?
LSI serves people of all
ages, genders, nationalities, religions, ethnicities and
sexual orientations and is affiliated with Lutheran Services
in America and the three Iowa synods of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
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Service
Principles:
- We believe the family has the right to
tell their story in their own words, in their own
time. This listening creates
relationships.
- We respect the differences in background,
race, culture and ethnicity of those we serve.
- We focus
on the whole family and seek to meet their needs.
- We start our work where the client
is at with language they can understand.
- We
communicate honestly with the family.
- We identify
and build on the family’s
strengths and past successes.
- We
are willing to do whatever it takes to best serve the
family.
- We
believe families have the ability
to find their own solutions. Our job is to create
the environment for this
to happen. It is the family who decides the course
they will take.
- We
are in tune with our own biases and take responsibility
to ensure these do not impact our
work
quality.
- We
do not judge the family; we empathize with where they
have been. We cannot assume to understand
the path the
family
has taken.
- We recognize
and encourage all progress – big
and small steps.
- We think
systemically, seeking to create formal and informal
community supports to assist the
family.
The term “family” is inclusive of all
individuals whom the family defines as a unit.
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Commitments:
- We approach our work in humility
with the hope of receiving God’s
helping grace.
- We will strive to bring comfort, wholeness
and reconciliation to our communities.
- We will
show understanding, sympathy and compassion for those
despised and avoided by others. We will be a friend to
those without
friends.
- We will,
in solidarity with our neighbors, selflessly provide
assistance, offer encouragement and invest
our gifts for our neighbors’ material and spiritual
needs.
- We will remain vigilant,
ever ready to provide sacrificial love and hope to our neighbors.
- We will
live in the spirit of the Gospel, remain in the peace
of Christ, integrate ourselves with
the life of the Church and identify with the noble aspirations
of humankind.
- We will patiently and
courageously seek to implement good and will have the strength
to forgive those who do
harm.
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