By Anne Peters, LMFT It’s no secret spending time with your family is important. How important is it? Spending time together as a family has been shown to decrease negative behaviors, improve academic functioning, improve confidence, and build a child’s positive character skills. Children learn from us, so if we model empathy, kindness, and compassion,...
By Anne Peters, LMFT Reading with your child is such a valuable experience. You can go on magical adventures together, learn something new with one another, and strengthen your relationship. Especially during difficult times, it can be helpful to read a book together that really connects with them. COVID-19 brings up a lot of questions...
By Anne Peters, LMFT It’s no secret that feelings of anxiety have increased for many of us over the last several months. There has been so much uncertainty in our world, and if there’s one thing uncertainty feeds, it’s anxiety. This is the same for children. Children are not always aware of what that feeling...
Earlier this summer, LSI hosted a ribbon cutting for a new 12-acre urban agriculture farm in Pleasant Hill, just east of Des Moines. The land was donated by Phyllis Childers. The land will be used as part of LSI’s Global Greens program, which is offered through LSI’s Refugee and Immigrant Services and provides farming land...
Sarah Green joined Team LSI earlier this summer as our new Vice President of Philanthropy and Church Relations. She has a heart for this work, and is truly dedicated to LSI’s mission of providing hope and healing to so many of our neighbors. She comes to LSI from Blessman International, where she worked as the...
By George Hanusa LSI has had many notable executives in its long history, but none as outstanding as Leonard C. Larsen. He lived service. In the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict, his training as a psychiatric social worker enabled him to help those suffering from PTSD. After his military service, he and his wife,...
By Anne Peters, LMFT Happy September, everyone! We have officially made it through summer and we are all getting back into our school and work routine. Although this is a time of year when we fall into normal routines and a lot of predictability, this year feels a little bit different due to COVID-19. How...
By Anne Peters, LMFT It’s the start of a new school year! This year has looked pretty different than any other year, hasn’t it? You haven’t been to school since March, you and your family have been social distancing from others, you’ve been wearing a mask, and some of your activities were cancelled. That has...
