2003-04 LSS Annual Report

HEARTBEATS NEWS FROM THE HEART/2003-04 ANNUAL REPORT

FALL 2004 A Message from the Board of Directors My time spent serving as president of the agency’s Board of Directors has been fulfilling, and I am grateful to be able to leave my role with the agency in good stead. The new president, the Rev. David Imhoff, pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, faces positive challenges of how best to expand our services. These challenges are truly opportunities and I am confident that the agency has the leadership, both paid and volunteer, that it needs to realize Christ’s call to serve the hungry, poor, homeless, and oppressed.

Our ability to stabilize our finances in the past few years has allowed us to think creatively and boldly about our future. A number of changes this year promise positive growth for the agency.

Wayne Rieley joined the agency in January as executive director. He has brought a much-needed vision for the agency’s future that is grounded solidly in our Lutheran heritage. Karen Rieley followed him in July as the agency’s first-ever director of advancement, with the interdependent goals of raising the community’s awareness of all that LSS is doing to meet needs and of increasing volunteer and unrestricted financial contributions to the agency.

For most of the past three years, the Board of Directors needed to be involved in hands-on management of the agency in helping it to maneuver its way through a series of economic and political turbulent waters. With new administrative leadership firmly in place now, the Board is reenergized and ready to explore how it can provide the vision, direction, and resources that the staff needs to do its work the most effectively.

— Kenneth Dufford, Immediate Past President, Board of Directors

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VOLUME 15 ISSUE 1

Expanding support goal for 2005

By R. Wayne Rieley, Executive Director

Our Second Harvest Food Bank distributed more food than ever before, e ended the 2004-05 fiscal year 6,579,735 pounds of food to more than running full tilt into our 25th year 425 agencies that in turn gave food to of operation. The signs are all favorable hungry people in 17 counties. A monitorfor a fulfilling second quarter-century ing by America’s Second Harvest – The of service to disadvantaged people and Nation’s Food Network alerted us to the their families with unmet needs in our fact, however, that we must face making Northeast Florida community. some major changes to our facility.

The agency’s revenue is at an allBecause the food that is distributed time high. All four programs of the to us is increasingly fresh or frozen agency served more people than ever rather than canned, we need to renovate before. Total giving our existing facility or to the agency – govbuild or buy a newer ernment contracts, facility designed with private foundations enough freezer and and grants, corporate, refrigerator equipand individual giving ment to allow us to – reached an all-time accept these foods. high as well.

Currently, we have Indeed, the to turn away between signs are positive, one and one and a although tempered half million pounds of with some challenges. the food that is distributed The number of refuto us through the gees resettled in the America’s Second More than 250 people United States rose Harvest – The celebrated Lutheran Social Services’ 25th Anniversary significantly in fiscal Nation’s Food on Sept. 23 at the Cummer year 2004, although they are Network. I am Museum of Art & Gardens. not yet back to the levels of forming a task force the 1990s. Locally, restricted of business leaders government spending resulted in fundwith experience in food distribution to ing being cut for the adult education offer their advice about the next steps component of our Refugee & Immigrant that the agency should take.

Services Program, which had a total We continue to realize success in enrollment of 761 last year for English being awarded government contracts to as a Second Language and computer support our work; in fact, 79.1 percent classes. We had to release 14 employof our revenues come from local, state, ees as a result of the cut. The agency is and federal governments. Our goal, eager to work with churches and other however, is to increase the amount of organizations that may be able to offer unrestricted, private money from indiclassroom space and a volunteer ESOL vidual, foundations, corporations, our and/or computer teacher.

Lutheran congregations as founders of

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the agency, and other religious institutions that have an interest in the people we serve, which in turn will allow us to achieve control of our destiny in fulfilling our faith-based mission to serve those in need in our own community.

Our new advancement program is working to increase awareness of the agency in the general community and to forge renewed bonds with these sources of private funds.

Current events portend many future opportunities. Empty Bowls attendance and funds raised are at an all-time high, Taste of the NFL – Jacksonville and Taste of the NFL XIV are bringing signifi-

cant funds to our Food Bank, the 25th Anniversary Celebration netted the agency over $12,000, and proposals to private foundations and corporations are currently in process. Our Lutheran congregations are responding positively to our efforts to involve them more directly in our social service work by volunteering, collecting and donating items we need, and in several cases, adding the agency to their annual budget or increasing their gift to us. There is much more that we can do together, but this year has been a strong start and we look forward to the New Year.

I am particularly looking forward to working together with representatives from the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod, LCMS Florida-Georgia District, and Lutheran Services Florida in a pilot

project for our state brought to us by Church Resources. The pilot is to provide older adult programming through our social service agencies and the Lutheran churches in the state using Church Resources’ Senior Ministry Inventory to address the specific needs of this community on a congregationspecific basis. Our efforts together in Florida may serve as a model for both Lutheran church bodies throughout the

rest of the country and offer us the unique opportunity to come together in ministry to a quickly growing segment of our population – by 2030 there will be more people over 65 than under 18 in the United States and that statistic will be even more exaggerated in Florida.

The synergism created by these partnerships and the many others that will happen throughout the year remind us that if God is central to all that we are doing, we cannot fail.

The 25th Anniversary Celebration gave the agency the opportunity to thank major supporters during the past five years. (Top) Bonnie Smith, executive director of The Lucy Gooding Charitable Foundation Trust, accepts her organization’s silver platter recognizing its support. (Above) Twenty-six LSS employees receive recognition, as do (far left) the volunteer members of the 25th Anniversary Planning Committee, Pamela Wehde, chair, Shelley Wiskirchen, Hila Head, and Gini Strasser (while Marie Friedsam, second from left, looks on). J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver accept platters for both the Jaguars Foundation and Weaver Family Foundation from Executive Director Wayne Rieley. On Sept. 23, the Honorary Host Committee, June R. Myers, chair, Francine and Neill Baker, Peggy and J.F. Bryan IV, Emogene and Kenneth Dufford, Delores and Morton Kesler, Tresha and Dan St. John, J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver, and Dottie and Patrick Williams welcomed the guests to music by the Rev. William Reister, pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, and by the Doyoma Trio, young musicians from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.

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Agency resettles refugees from 40 countries this year

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SS serves those who have been parent/teacher conferences and help famigranted the status of refugee by our lies fill out school paperwork. country’s State Department allowing School liaisons also visit the families them to come to live in America. This of students, enroll new students, and propast year, refugees came to LSS from 40 vide translation for new families. They countries with little more than the clothes run after-school programs in apartment on their backs to start their lives anew. complexes where refugee families live or Escaping persecution due to political wars in the schools where the refugee children or religious beliefs, they received instrucattend and offer parenting programs as tion in survival English, help in finding well. They work with volunteer mentors jobs, guidance in becoming self-sufficient and tutors, both adults and students, who economically, and assistance in helping help refugee children with reading, in partheir children adjust to our public school ticular, and other subjects. system. LSS staff members speak over 27 languages, enabling them to Yonn Kim Soon, Program Director Helen pave the way for refugees in learnWerking, and Galina Volkovinskaya, coning about the American schools, gratulate fellow LSS employees Yevgeniya Logvinova and Mikhail Logvinov on becomgovernment requirements, banking, ing new American citizens. and employment processes.

Youth Services LSS works to reduce and prevent juvenile delinquency and school drop-outs, as well as to improve acculturation and preservation of our refugee families.

The program is an integral part of the overall goal of helping refugees achieve economic self-sufficiency as they work to become resettled in as short of time as possible following their entry into the United States.

Youth Services school liaisons provide an invaluable service to refugee youth with English as a second language. This year the liaisons attended a Full Service School meeting at Englewood High School to learn more about parenting skills for grandparents. A large number of children in the Jacksonville area, including refugee children, are being raised by grandparents, and in the case of refugees that represents special language problems.

When Duval County schools adopted a plan this year for early dismissals every other Wednesday, some of the newer refugee arrival students did not understand the change and missed the bus. School liaisons transported some of them home and explained the schedule to them in their native language. They assist with

Youth Services also ran a summer camp for middle and high school students this past summer, 2004 Summer Time Express, in which the refugee youth were taught science and math classes and taken on field trips and to the local YMCA for swimming classes. They were shown how to search for a job in the classified section of the newspaper as well as complete a mock job application and job interview and learned how to write a check and balance the transaction record.

Many of our newer youth refugees have been deprived of schooling by tradition, if they are girls, by long ongoing wars and turmoil, or by long periods of moving from refugee camp to camp. A number of the youth have never been to

school and are illiterate in any language.

Other problems are long-neglected dental and health problems.

“The schools love our services,” Gina Frederico, LSS Youth Services program coordinator, says. “We are an active part of the school community and we are a part of the refugee children’s lives beyond the school, with after-school programs and all types of assistance to the youth and to their families.”

Career Laddering LSS helps refugees get the education, training, and credentialing that they need to reach career goals. Even though they may have achieved advanced degrees and held professional positions in their own country, they have to prove themselves again in America.

LSS caseworkers encourage them to find an entry job in a field related to their training and then work to advance themselves. Each step includes job targets and professional growth objectives detailing planned education, training, and credentialing necessary for the move to the next step on the individual’s career ladder.

Caseworkers develop partnerships with local businesses that are willing to hire refugees with skills related to the services they offer. Some examples are North Florida Institute – School of Beauty and Cosmetology and Roadmaster Drivers School of Jacksonville Inc. They have also established relationships with business consultants at WorkSource, an agency created in 1996 to take the place of the Jacksonville and Northeast Florida Private Industry Councils. WorkSource integrates work force development with economic development for attracting new business to the community and assisting existing business to expand.

Education The agency offered beginning and intermediate ESOL classes four mornings a week and evening ESOL classes two nights a week. Computer classes were also

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offered five days a week and vocational/ education counseling was offered on an ongoing basis for all interested students.

The program was ended on Sept. 30, 2004, however, due to a lack of funding from the State of Florida. As the state government finds itself with less funds to operate, some programs fall by the wayside.

LSS was unable to self-fund the $450,000 per year needed to operate the program.

I M M I G R A NT matching refugee client savings.

LSS was able to maximize its distribution of grant funds to accountholders while maintaining average administrative costs of only 14 percent, due to deliberate and directed research and planning and full engagement of existing community resources. The agency led two large workshops of about 300 people each who attended the 2004 IDA Learning Conference in September and who wanted to learn more about how our techniques, tactics, and administration allowed us to have the lowest administrative costs of all IDA programs in the country.

Individual Development Accounts Also this year, LSS ended its management of a five-year pilot Individual Development Account (IDA) grant from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). While refugee low-income Elder Care clients are similar to non-refugee lowLSS also assisted elderly refugees in income clients, there are some key difgaining access to programs and services ferences. Refugee in the Northeast Florida commuclients typically D I D Y O U K N O W ? nity to meet their have great hopes of their ability to needs. The agency Florida presently ranks third in the gain economic selfprovided congrenumber of immigrants. From 1995 to 2003, sufficiency. They gate meals, mediover 6,500 refugees were directly resettled require minimal cation assistance, in District 4, primarily in Jacksonville, which training to discern home health aid is home to the greatest diversity of refubetween needs services, social gee communities in the State of Florida. In and wants and to and recreational Jacksonville, 4.4 percent of the population is develop the habit activities, transfrom Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4.3 percent is of saving funds. portation, and from Cuba, and 4.2 percent is from Vietnam.

On the other hand, assistance to those Four percent of the population comes from various African countries. refugee clients unable to use pubrequire significant lic transportation, delivered language training about how assistance, and helped elderly refugees to make appropriate purchases with assimilate into non-refugee elder populafederal dollars; for refugees, defrauding tion groups. the federal government could result in The Elder Care Contract was not deportation. They also need to learn renewed for 2004-05. “We are very how to avoid becoming a target for proud of the work that we have done,” unscrupulous merchants, salespersons, Amra Zegrova, LSS lead case manager, and individuals. says. “We were able to change how our As the result of the IDA program, elderly were treated during the citizen1,921 clients, many of them husbands and wives, opened 986 bank accounts and ship test process. In the past they were graduated 931 accountholders. Account humiliated and degraded, but through savings went toward 564 automobiles, our advocacy, our clients were treated 99 computers, 66 educations, 83 home kindly and respectfully and not one perpurchases, 93 home renovation projects, son who applied for citizenand the starting of 25 businesses. Of ship while in our program the $3,650,000 granted to LSS by ORR, failed and not one required a $3,134,109.85 or 86 percent, was spent in medical waiver.”

S E RVI C E S SA F ET Y Father and eight children find safety in America The father and eight of his 10 children arrived in Jacksonville this past February from the Congo. Life in the Congo was very dangerous due to widespread disease, economic difficulties, and aggressive military actions throughout the country. When his wife and daughter died in 2002, he decided that his children would have a better future if they left the Congo and came to the United States.

But, his decision cost him a lot. Even though he had been an affluent attorney and landowner with a large home and servants, when he arrived in the United States, he had to start over. His academic and professional credentials were not recognized here. He currently works as a hotel doorman and does not earn enough to meet his family’s needs.

His five adult children work, but still the family struggles to meet expenses each month.

The father suffers from a life-threatening illness, although it has not yet prevented him from working. Medicaid pays for him to receive the treatment and medication he needs. Also, his 14-year-old daughter has fainting spells that the doctors tell him are psychological. She is going to therapy to learn to cope with her grief and loss issues and adjustment problems.

All in all, however, the family loves the United States. The three youngest children attended the 2004 LSS Summer Time Express camp and showed great artistic talent. The father has passed along to all of his children his belief in the importance of an education. Two of the adult children are attending college.

As part of our Career Laddering program, we are trying to find him work related to the legal profession, which would probably pay him more and be more satisfying.

The family hopes to find a house soon so that they can live together, rather than their current living situation of living in two apartments in the same complex because their family is so large.

Even with the challenges they have faced, the father is grateful to be in the United States because he knows his family is safe here.

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New Food Bank programs bring food to families

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wenty-five years ago, Lutheran Social Services began its first program, the Nourishment Network, a small food pantry that has grown to become the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Florida.

The LSS Second Harvest Food Bank has two basic components: rescuing and distributing food and providing services to children via the Kids Cafe project.

The program is part of America’s Second Harvest, a national network of 215 food banks and food rescue organizations.

During the last fiscal year, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Florida distributed over 6.57 million pounds of food to the needy in a 17-county area of Northeast Florida. That amount of food would fill over 780,000 grocery bags and provide 5 million meals. The Kids Cafe project of the Food Bank provided nutritious snacks to 4,000 children during after school programs in Jacksonville.

The LSS Second Harvest Food Bank is a unique community resource in Northeast Florida, providing for thousands of Jacksonville residents who would otherwise go hungry or lack proper nutrition. Food is distributed through member agencies.

Non-profit agencies become members of the Food Bank via an application and monitoring process to ensure that food is stored, handled, and distributed in a safe manner.

Member agencies range from the largest service providers to small churches who feed individuals as part of their mission.

There are currently more than 425 member agencies, for example, the I.M. Sulzbacher Center, the Salvation Army, Clara White Mission, City Rescue Mission, Hubbard House, Community Childcare Center, and the Boys and Girls Club.

With the wholesale value of food at $1.50 per pound, participating agencies

experience a significant cost savings by sharing product at the Food Bank, at no cost and up to $0.18 per pound. The average cost is $0.07 per pound. For example, a local soup kitchen that serves 300,000 meals per year would save more than $500,000 per year by sharing at the Food Bank. This allows agencies to spend more money on services to individuals in Jacksonville and meet more than basic needs.

The handling fees comprise less than 50 percent of the revenue necessary to operate food rescue and distribution components of the Food Bank. Additional support for the program comes from the City of Jacksonville, United Way of Northeast Florida, private foundations, the State of Florida, individual contributions, corporate contributions, and fundraising events.

In the last year, the Food Bank began two new initiatives to fight hunger in Northeast Florida.

Mobile Pantry The Mobile Pantry is a series of single day events, sponsored by non-profit agencies, corporations, and churches, to distribute large amounts of food in the areas most affected by poverty and hunger. There were five Mobile Pantry events this year, directly distributing 70,000 pounds of food to more than 46,000 people. Community partners who sponsored these events were the Thomas & Irene Kirbo Charitable Trust, Geridau Ameristeel in

Baldwin, the Westside Church of Christ, Dayspring Baptist Church, and Way of the Word Ministries.

Weekend Meals The Food Bank also began the Weekend Meals Pilot Project this year to supplement the assistance to children already provided through the Kids Cafe. Children in need of food during the week are also hungry on the weekends at home. With the average monthly food stamp benefit in the state of Florida at less than $75 per month, families living at or below the poverty level are unable to meet the basic nutritional needs of their children every day of the week, including the weekend when the afterschool programs are not open.

In the first year of the program, the Weekend Meals project provided 1,200 take-home boxes of groceries to more than 1,000 children at the Kids Cafe sites in the most need. Support for this project from the Lucy Gooding Charitable Foundation Trust and ConAgra Foods continues to expand the availability to more children in Duval County in 2004-2005.

The Weekend Meals program supplements the meals of families whose children participate in Kids Cafe during the week because they don’t have enough food.

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Food Bank Mobile Pantry aids in hurricane relief

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he LSS Second Harvest “Food for Families” Mobile Pantry sponsored

by Gerdau Ameristeel in Baldwin provided relief in early September to those affected

by Hurricane Frances. Many residents lost power and were without an immediate supply of food.

On that Thursday morning, trucks loaded with over 25,000 pounds of food and personal care items arrived at Gerdau Ameristeel. With the help of neighborhood volunteers and the members from the sponsoring groups, the trucks were unloaded and grocery items packed into “Family Boxes”. Distribution began at 11 a.m. and ended after the last box was dispensed. Contents of the Family Boxes were designed to supplement what may already be in clients’ kitchens as well as provide complete meals for a family of four. Over 500 Family Boxes were distributed to those in need.

The goal for the Food for Families Mobile Pantry is to become a quarterly event that serves neighborhoods that are economically challenged. In addition to

(Left) Baldwin City Councilman Stan Totman helps distribute food to those affected by Hurricane Frances in his area.

(Below) People in need collect over 500 Family Boxes from the Mobile Pantry, thanks to Gerdau Ameristeel in Baldwin which sponsored the food distribution. The Food Bank works with a sponsoring group to identify an appropriate distribution point and recruit volunteers to assist in the distribution.

food, the Mobile Pantry hopes to partner with other agencies to include health screenings and other valuable services.

Interested parties wishing to sponsor a Mobile Pantry event or an agency partnership, please call the Food Bank at 904-353-FOOD.

World Day of Play lets kids ‘just play’

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s part of a project with Nickelodeon Television, the Second Harvest Food Bank Kids Cafe program hosted a World Day of Play in early October at the Eastside Community Center. Over 600 people, including 500 children, attended the event and enjoyed games, moon walks, food, drinks, popcorn, snow cones, prizes, and other activities. Kids Cafe is one of the nation’s largest free meal programs for children.

Launched in 2003, Let’s Just Play is a long-term, grassroots campaign to empower kids to engage in active, healthy, and fun play. The program encourages and provides kids with the opportunities to “just play” while alleviating the pressures and expectations put on today’s youth when it comes to their participation in sports and games.

Event sponsors included Astro Events of Jacksonville, Heart of America, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Face Painting by Maryellen Moore, Sight and Sound, Sweet Cheeks & Co., Music by Robert Session, Space Walk of Jacksonville, and Westside Feed.

Kids enjoy the clowns at World Day of Play, a program designed to offer children the opportunity to enjoy active, healthy, and fun play.

2003-04ANNUALREPORT A FINANCIAL REVIEW

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Balance Sheet for Year ending September 30, 2004 ASSETS

LIABILITIES

Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents $722.709 Cash and cash equivalents – restricted 667,982 Accounts receivable – service fees 174,186 Accounts receivable – funding sources 446,696 Pledges receivable – short-term portion 34,763 Available from endowment fund – current portion 18,125 Food Bank inventory 7,403 Prepaid expenses 81,786 Total Current Assets $2,153,650

Current Liabilities Accounts payable $68,920 Accrued retirement expense 23,563 Compensated absences 88,753 Deferred revenues 15,308 Deposits held for others 668,636 Other accrued expenses 104,198 Notes payable – current portion of long-term debt 54,769 Total Current Liaiblities $1,024,147

Property and equipment, net

$3,148,941

Other Assets Pledges receivable – long-term portion Available from endowment fund – long-term portion Total Other Assets TOTAL ASSETS

$3,810 54,377 $58,187

$5,360,778

Long-term Liabilities Notes payable

$944,241

TOTAL LIABILITIES

$1,968,388

Net Assets Unrestricted net assets Temporarily restricted net assets

$2,937,621 454,769

Total Net Assets

$3,392,390

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS

$5,360,778

2003-04ANNUALREPORT ANNUAL DONORS

PROVIDING SOLUTIONS FROM THE

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LSS is a member of Thrivent Financial for Lutheran’s Giving Plus Program. If you are a member of Thrivent Financial, Thrivent will contribute 50 cents for every dollar that you give to LSS, based on certain guidelines. Visit www.thrivent. com/fraternal/ churchcommunity/givingplus. html or call Karen Rieley, director of advancement, 904.448.5995, krieley@lssjax. org, to learn more.

You can become an associate member of Thrivent Financial for just $10 a year, make a gift to LSS of $50-$100, and Thrivent will in turn, then, contribute $25-$50 to LSS. You’ll get member benefits, Thrivent magazine, a members only secure Web site, grant opportunities, and discount pricing in Lutherans Online Market Place, and LSS will gain additional financial resources!

his report lists some very special people to Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida.

They are the good people in our community who have given in-kind gifts and monetary gifts to help disadvantaged families for whom we serve.

Annual giving has been defined as “the custom of making a yearly gift to an organization in which one has faith. It is a friendly, happy custom, a perennial reunion in spirit, a pooling of hope and good wishes by those who wish the institution well.” It certainly is that, and much more.

The following people have given to LSS at least one, and in many cases, a number of times, in our last fiscal year. They have helped us make that extra dif-

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ference in people’s lives. It is our honor and privilege to be the recipients of their gifts. We are all richer in spirit because they have shared their concern and help, and we can all hope that our community will be better for our collective efforts.

Certainly we could not provide the level and quantity of service that we currently do without the government grants we receive. But it is the gifts from private individuals and institutions and from businesses and corporations that allow us to improve the quality of the lives of the people we serve.

From the bottom of our hearts, thanks to each of you listed below for helping us provide solutions from the heart.

Leaders - Gifts from $1,000 and above Heather Adams America’s Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network AmSouth Bank Mr. & Mrs. William S. Armstrong Bethlehem Lutheran Church Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. Michelle Burney Coggin Management Company ConAgra Foods J.P. Dade Delores Pass Kesler Foundation, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. John Drummond Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth H. Dufford* Duval/Nassau Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans EverBank Flagler Development Company Florida-Bahamas Synod, ELCA Florida Intermotors Inc. Florida’s First Coast Chapter Society of Design Administration Food Lion, Inc. Ford Fresh Pond Trust Marie M. Friedsam* Mr. & Mrs. Charles P. Goodyear Doris M. Gregory Harry’s of America (Harry’s Seafood) Howard O. Holmen Tom Huke

IBM Employee Services Center Ida M. Stevens Foundation Mr. & Mrs. James W. Ingold* International Business Machines Corporation Jacksonville Jaguars, LTD Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee, Inc. Jacobs Jewelers, Inc. Dru Jensen-Jones JP Morgan Chase Foundation Kobrin Builders Supply Kraft Foods Fred H. Lambrou Levy Restaurants Limited Partnership Lucy Gooding Charitable Foundation Trust Robert I. Lufrano Shelly Marino Sara K. Martin Daniel A. McMoran Roslyn Mixon-Phillips* National Education Loan Network, Inc. New Life Christian Fellowship of Jacksonville North Florida Auto Sales & Leasing Inc. Lisa W. Ottendorf Panera Bread Penney Memorial Church Benevolence Fund

Publix Retina Associates, P.A. Riverside Foundation Christie Routel Sabiston McCabe Auto Solutions Saint Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Sam’s Club Foundation Brian P. Snyder St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church St. Vincent’s Foundation Chris Swan Swisher International, Inc. Taste of the NFL The Pampered Chef The Paul E. & Klare N. Reinhold Foundation, Inc. The St. Joe Company The Thomas M. & Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust The Way of the Word Ministries Mark Thiele Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trinity Lutheran Church United Way of Northeast Florida Weaver Family Foundation W.D. West Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. *denotes a member of the LSS Board of Directors

Supporters – Gifts up to $999 Arlington Rotary Club Patricia A. Adam Advent Lutheran Church Patricia M. Ainsley Kristi M. Akers ALCO Halfway House Traci Almaguer Amanda Craven Memorial Endowment Fund America’s Second Harvest Ralph Appleby Arlington Congregational Church Dorothea K. Armstrong Mr. & Mrs. Tracey Arpen* Roger Arrowsmith Sandra S. Ashby Debra Asher Edward T. Austin Richard J. Ayers Betty Bach L.B. Baggett Mr. & Mrs. C.M. Baker Gina R. Ballinger Jo E. Ballinger Elizabeth M. Ballo Bank of America Mark Barber Franklin D. Barker Kristanna Barnes William Barnett Martha Barrett Elizabeth A. Bartley Mr. & Mrs. Floyd Bates Michael W. Beckner Jean Beckwith Daniel Becton Rae Behning Stewart Bennett The Rev. Bishop Edward R. Benoway John R. Berry Leon W. Berry Ritch S. Bethea Bethlehem Lutheran Women’s League Blue Knights Florida VIII James P. Bolling Carol J. Borey Bowl America Charity Fund Mr. & Mrs. Clifton Brack Jerome D. Brady Frank R. Bray Brooks Health Foundation Mr. & Mrs. J. Shepard Bryan, Jr. Betty Buchheimer Julie Buckingham Vaclava M. Bukac Burkhardt Sales and Service J.D. Burn J.K. Burnette James N. Burt

Margaret J. Bushman Rufus Butler David G. Campbell Sara Cantor Peter G. Caribaltes Edward W. Carter IV Amy L. Caruso Carl Carver* Anne M. Cashion Catholic Charities Bureau Inc. Carol Catron Heather Cavanagh Kenneth Cech Champion Brands, Inc. The Metro Children’s Home Society, Buckner Division Kenneth Chin Church of the Assumption Nada L Ciriello Catherine E. Clark Theron O. Clark Susan S. Collingwood James A. Combs Judith F. Combs Comcast Deanna Comstock Daniel W. Connell Hamilton Cooke Coordinated Benefits Group, Inc. Robert L. Corbett Lavonda Corners Rena M. Coughlin Crossroad Lutheran Church CSX Transportation Kevin F. Cuda Clifford E. Curington Mr. & Mrs. Darryl A. D’Angina Anne Daniel Database Technology Group, Inc. David Widell-Feed Family Joyce Davidson Wilbert A. Davis DeWitt C. Dawkins, Jr. Stephen E. Day Jack Del Rio Kelly A. Delaney Jack C. Demetree David Denney James W. Dennis Frank Deprospo Mr. & Mrs. Chris H. Derreberry Susan Derrick Barbara J. DiMaio Diocese of Saint Augustine Lynn S. Doiron Douglas, Douglas, & Farnsworth George L. Dover Timothy J. Droegemueller Michael A. Dubin

DuBow Family Foundation Jody C. Duggan Duval Asphalt Products Inc. E & L Enterprises Alan R. Eckels Educational Community Credit Union Dan Edwards Darsi A. Edwards David Edwards Penny Edwards Egilse Evangelique Haitienne de Jacksonville Steven E. Emery Enes Auto Repair Richard Ervin Marilyn V. Erwin Joleen M. Esquierdo Evergreen Baptist Church Colleen Farris Edward M. Fennell Pamela A. Ferguson Steven Finnegan First Baptist Church of Atlantic Beach First Baptist Church of Yulee First Coast A.P.A. First Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville First Street Grille Florida Southern Plywood Corp.

K.D. Flowers Jack Ford Tom Foskett Gordon Foster The Rev. Julie A. Frank Mr. & Mrs. Gene L. Funkhouser Tom Gage Paul Gajda Flamine E. Galbraith Charles D. Gallardo Jeffrey R. Garland Donald P. Garrett Gateway Community Services, Inc. The Rev. & Mrs. Dale G. Gatz GFWC Junior Women’s Club of Jacksonville Bernard R. Giancola Michael Gibson James A. Gilliard Girl Scouts of Gateway Council Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville Otto W. Glasnapp Janet S. Golden* Mr. & Mrs. David M. Gooding* Sheri A. Goodwin Gottlieb Family Foundation GPC Driving, Inc. John C. Grant-Dooley Hollis Gueldner Martha Guillebeau

Would you like to help Lutheran Social Services make lives better for people in need?

Click the donate now button to find out how easy it is!

www.lssjax.org

You don’t have to be a Thrivent member to take advantage of the Simply Giving Program. Simply Giving is an automated giving program designed to help you conveniently and consistently contribute to a Lutheran institution such as LSS of Northeast Florida. With Simply Giving, your gifts are made through a pre-authorized withdrawal from your bank account. You determine the frequency of your automatic gift—weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly—the option is yours.

Your gift or payment is deposited into our bank account on the same day it is withdrawn from your account—at no cost to you or us.

Contact Karen Rieley, director of advancement, 904.448.5995, krieley@lssjax. org, or visit www. thrivent.com/ fraternal/churchcommunity/simplygiving.html to learn more.

Sara E. Gunter Bruce A. Gutknecht B.J. Gutman Carol E. Haas Mary W. Haas The Rev. D. Michael M. Hackbardt Nancy Haensly Roger H. Hall Sandy Hall William V. Haltwanger Cathy Hartford John C. Hartford Steven K. Hartsaw Viola Hartsfield James F. Hass William F. Hayes Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Head Hercules Incorporated Gregory P. Hieb Nilo P. Hiers Mr. & Mrs. Joe Hines* Philip W. Hinrichs Wendy W. Hinton Carol A Hoagland Doris Hobgood Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd W. Hogan Frederick W. Hoge Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Preschool Arthur L. Hooker Robert Huckaba Jack Hudson Mary L. Hudson Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence R. Huser* IBM Retiree Charitable Campaign Ilano Technologies, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Apolinar C. Ilano The Rev. & Mrs. David Imhoff* Carolyn Isaac Julian E. Jackson Rodney A. Jackson Jacksonville Campus Ministry Inc. Jacksonville Housing Authority Jacksonville Metropolitan Lions Club Jacksonville University Mary Ann Jarvis Jax Chapter of the Florida Mortgage Brokers Association Alan C. Jensen Ellen C. Jensen Carlotta M. Jernigan Johns & Associates Daniel L. Johnson Kathy Johnson Lori Johnson Pamela Johnson Steve Johnstone Donald R. Joiner Russell Jones Willie Jones Sharon H. Juhasz

First African Community Church of Jacksonville Gina C. Kaysen KB Home Jacksonville Inc. Christine H. Keay Paul E. Kemp Sara Kenaston Perry J. Kenner Johnnie R. Kern Mr. & Mrs. Phyl M. Kimball, Jr. David M. Kimbrough Stan A. Kinmonth Knight Painting & Restoration Jamie Koerts Thomas E. Kohn John F. Kornegay Stuart E. Kral Richard D. Kreiner Dana Kriznar Suzanne Kuehn Linda Kulczyk Hallet Lamm Evelyn Landon Helen M. Lane Edward W. Lane, Jr. Law Offices of A. Russell Smith, P.A. John Lazuk Mr. & Mrs. Allen E. Lewis Henry Lim Jennifer Lisella Bernard J. Loonam Elaine P. Loving Donald D. Lowery Melissa Lowry Leonard Lucas William Luther Brigid M. Lynam Charles Lynch Gamal Lyons Kevin MacDonald Nicholas Macik Timothy J. Mack Virginia Mack Dinesh Madhok John Maher Louis F. Maire Kathy Malcolm Albert R. Males Mandarin Lutheran Church Robert Maple Lisa Marshall Donald L. Martin* Joan K. Martin Kelly A. Martin Maryott’s Garden George B. Mashni Raymond K. Mason Mr. & Mrs. Gene Maszy Mr. & Mrs. Gene R. Maszy* Barbara S. Mathes Mark W. Matta

Michael V. Mattson Laura Maycott Amanda J. McCormack Karen S. McClain Pamela McClow Coris W. McCray Edward McGowan Josh McGraw Billy McKenzie Larry McKnight Hope McMath Sharon McMichael Phillip Meadows Bruce Meier Rachel Meissburg Merrill Lynch Retirement Group Ann Merwin Glenda Miller Thomas Miller Raymond H. Minter Carol A. Moore James A. Moore C.R. Morehead Richard T. Morehead Julie Mougey Edward Mueller David Mullennix Marsha Myers National Association of Railway Business Women Roland M. Nazworth Joni J. Neidigh Robert L. Nellson New St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Mr. & Mrs. Russell B. Newton III Debra A. Nicklus Richard L. Nyberg David O’Byrne Timothy A. Oermann Kenneth Olsen Opus South Management Corporation Sheila R. Orange Our Redeemer Lutheran Church Nancy J. Overton Harry L. Owens Mr. & Mrs. Roger Palmer W.C. Parker J. Patterson Stephen W. Peacock Hugo Pearson Edward A. Penman Dorothy Penmenter Beth A. Peters Joel G. Peterson Thomas F. Petway Garcia Phillips Kristina L. Phillips Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Pierpont Pine Castle, Inc.

Heather J. Porcase Denise S. Posniak Marilyn Potts Teresa Pratt W.E. Pratt-Dannals Jack Price James C. Pritchard Prudential Financial William G. Pruett Gerhard A. Pudimat The Rev. & Mrs. Alec Pueschel* Cynthia Puhl Karen H. Pulliam Margie A. Rammel Richard L. Raulerson John S. Reiser Ribalt Lions Club, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Mark Riechmann David Rieger Mr. & Mrs. R. Wayne Rieley Allison Ring Patricia A. Ritter Riverside Presbyterian Church Steven E. Robbins Mr. & Mrs. Rick H. Robinson* Cleveland Rockback George Rodriguez Kellie D. Ross Melonee A. Rou Kimberly Rowland Julie J. Roziers William Rudy Maurice L. Ruhter Sabrina Rutland Michael A. Rutledge Peter Ryan Safeguard Business Systems of North Florida Cary J. Sak Marie B. Sanborn Jose R. Sanchez Nan B. Sawyer Madeline Scales-Taylor Chris J. Scherkenbach Gertrude E. Schmidt Joanna Schneider Brain Sexton Frank L. Shannon Paul Sheldon Michael A. Shell Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran Church Beverly Shields Mr. & Mrs. Robert T. Shircliff

David H. Shutt Hildegarde Simons Mr. & Mrs. Alford Sinclair Kathleen Sindicich-Lewis Stephanie Sloan-Butler Margaret H. Smillie Ronald D. Smillie Kima A. Smith Teri Smith Christa Z. Snow Jack D. Snowden Howard Snyder Judith K. Soffler Peter Sorensen Charles A. Sorenson Lois C. Sowers Carol S. Spalding Tommy Spaulding Stacey Spencer St. Andrew’s By The Sea Lutheran Church St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Altar Guild St. Nicholas Park Christian Church St. Vincent’s Medical Center Jay Stein Joann Stephens Laura I. Stoudmire Virginia B. Strasser Michael W. Stratton Ira Strickland Brenda Suits Clint Swinehart Earl Sykes Julie M. Sykes June M. Tanner Mr. & Mrs. Steve Tatro* Tenth Street Baptist Church The Auchter Company The Elise Bear & William D. Pollak Family Foundation, Inc. The Everlasting Families of Blodgett Homes and Surrounding Areas The Kossak Companies The Lube Company The Moon Grille & Oyster Bar The Salvation Army - Jacksonville Area Command James G. Thomas Penny Thompson Donna Tienter Tom Bush Regency Motors Lebernice A. Towers John J. Trifiletti

Trinity Lutheran Church W.E.L.C.A. Richard A. Tuschinski United Methodist Women of First United Methodist Church United Way of Northeast Florida, Inc. United Way of Tri-State Kimberly Van Hansen Barbara Van O’Linda Daniel B. Van Slyke Paul C. Vance Vicki Vanhorn Kimberly A. Vincent Genevieve E. Vollers Gray R. Vondrasek Alan D. Voss Nancy K. Vynanek Brian F. Walsh Janet Ward Michael R. Weatherby Kimberly C. Webb James W. Weedon Ed Wenker Mr. & Mrs. Larry Wertz David J. Westermann Charles D. White Charlie White David F. White Terry E. Whitehead Tara Wildes Raymond D. Wilkerson Pamelia D. Wilks Buckley Williams C.J. Williams Phyllis Williams Tia L. Williams Curtis Winter Kim Winter Sandra E. Winterbourne Frederick Wiseman Shelley M. Wiskirchen WJXT / TV 4 B.F. Woolsey Wright On Bernard P. Wroble Betty L. Wuenschel Linda J. Zeiler Robert Zelenka Mr. & Mrs. Barry Zisser *denotes a member of the LSS Board of Directors

Keefe Supply Company Kellogg Company King Provision Corporation Kraft Foods Miller Bresing Company

Please let us know about any changes we need to make by calling Karen Rieley, director of advancement, 904.448.5995.

SIGN-UP NOW! Visit lssjax. org and sign

Donors of 50,000 pounds of food or more to Second Harvest Food Bank Coca Cola Bottling Company ConAgra Foods, Inc. Del Monte Fresh Produce Company Food Lion

If your name is not listed here or is listed incorrectly, please accept our sincere apologies. We have been working this year to create an accurate database of all those who support us, but it is a work in progress.

Publix Snapple Tropicana Products, Inc. Winn-Dixie

up for our e-mail newsletter to receive information on upcoming LSS events and read news.

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA, INC. SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK 1502 JESSIE STREET JACKSONVILLE, FL 32206 TEL: 904.353.FOOD (3663) FAX: 904.358.4281 WWW.LSSJAX.ORG DIRECTOR: TIM DAVIS EDITOR: AMANDA HOLMES

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAI D JACKSONVILLE, FL PERMIT NO. 1610

A PROGRAM OF

U P C O M I N G EV E N T S Taste of the NFL XIV (Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005) This premier food and wine tasting extravaganza is a “Party With a Purpose” – to raise awareness and dollars in the fight against hunger for thousands of families who struggle every day to simply feed their children.

The finest chefs from each of the 31 NFL cities, paired with an alumni or current player from each team, prepare their finest specialty food. Attendees sample the food, meet the chefs, and get photos and autographs from host players and special celebrity guests.

Every NFL city’s America’s Second Harvest Food Bank will receive a portion of the net proceeds from this year’s Jacksonville event, with special emphasis this year on our very own LSS Second Harvest Food Bank.

The event will be held at the ATP International Headquarters located at The Bolles School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, 7 - 9:30 p.m. for food and beverages, and 9:30 - 11:30 p.m. for featured national entertainment. Tickets are $400 per guest ticket, $600 per VIP early entry ticket, and $6,000 for corporate tables (seating for 10 with VIP amenities).

To request tickets and merchandise, call The Loop Group, 952-835-7621 or visit www.tasteofthenfl.com/aboutframe.html.

CanStruction 2003 at the Avenues Mall

CanStruction (March 14-20, 2005) A spectacular community service project spotlighting the design and construction industry giving back to the communities it helps to build. Teams of architects, engineers, and contractors compete to design and build enormous 800 cubic foot structures made entirely out of canned foods. The public is invited to watch the CanStruction process at the Avenues Mall beginning on March 14. March 20 is the finale, with judging at 5:30 p.m. and awards presentation and gala event at 6 p.m. The structures are dismantled at the close of the exhibition and the thousands of pounds of food generated from the event are donated to the Food Bank.

Shania Twain sings for Kids Cafe Shania Twain has been supporting America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network and our Kids Cafe programs since 1997 when she first donated the proceeds of her song “God Bless the Child” to create the National Kids Cafe Fund.

When she launched her 2003 tour she was again interested in supporting local Kids Cafe programs and America’s Second Harvest affiliates. In early July 2004, she performed before a sold-out audience at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

Proceeds from radio promotions and raffle sales, which totaled $6,870, went to LSS Second Harvest Food Bank to support our role in ending child hunger.

D I D YO U K N OW? Lutheran Social Services’ Second Harvest Food Bank turned down 1-1.5 million pounds of fresh and frozen food this past year because we did not have enough refrigerated or freezer space to store it. On the other hand, the program did distribute more than 6.57 million pounds of food. Think how many more hungry people we could have helped if we could have stored and redistributed all the food needing refrigeration or freezing?

A

COMMUNITY

OF

PEOPLE

WHO

CARE

Caring spirits make big differences to people in need

H

undreds of individuals and organizations help us throughout the year in our mission to fill unmet needs of disadvantaged families in Northeast Florida. You can call 904.448.5995 to find out how you can help. Here are some recent examples of caring spirits who are making a positive difference: • Volunteers helped work with refugee youth in Summer Time Express 2004, making it possible for Youth Services staff to work more closely with each camper.

• Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran Church members helped set up house for 100 refugee families this fall by donating all the requested basic items, for example, brooms, buckets, and cleaning products, and more – such as computers, rocking chairs, small tables, lamps, and toys for kids.

• Grace Lutheran regularly collects household goods for our refugees.

• Spirit of Life Lutheran donated Thanksgiving food boxes to two of our families in the ACE program and three in Refugee & Immigrant Services.

• Big Brothers, Big Sisters donated Thanksgiving baskets for at least four of our families.

• Allstate Insurance Company employees from the Old St. Augustine Road office donated money to buy hams and turkeys and gave us boxes of canned goods for Thanksgiving baskets to people in need.

• Mandarin Lutheran Church’s December coffee house event featuring singer/songwriter Mindy Simmons performing folk, jazz, and blues raised $760 matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for a total of $1,520 to our refugees program.

• St. Mark’s Lutheran members volunteer regularly at the Second Harvest Food

Bank. In December, St. Mark’s Lutheran presented Fanfares and Fruitcakes in December, a festive Medieval evening of great seasonal music with an entrance “fee” of canned goods, blankets, and monetary donations for LSS and I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless.

• Mandarin Christian Church sponsored about 110 of our refugee children for the Christmas season. LSS staff completed a “Christmas wish list” for children 16 and younger to receive items of their choice, including clothing, educa-

asked to bring a small grocery bag of canned goods for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

• John Gilmore Roofing Inc. and the Roofer Union are donating labor and materials to help people the ACE programs serves who own their own homes but can’t afford to get their roofs repaired.

• The Comfort Inn-Oceanfront, Jacksonville Beach, donated all of the furnishings from more than 40 rooms to help us set up apartments for new refugee families and for homeless ACE clients.

(Left) Organizations can run house• One man donated three hold goods drives like Shepherd of the hospital beds with mattresses to Woods Lutheran did, or (below) host coffee house benefits like the Mindy the ACE Program, which has Simmons folk concert that Mandarin special needs for sick people, Lutheran presented. such as canes, walkers, and blood pressure equipment.

• Many individuals and businesses donate food and household items throughout the year to LSS. • Kesler Mentoring Connection helps in recruiting, training, and retaining mentors to work with refugee children. Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northeast Florida likewise works collaboratively with LSS by holding training sessions for mentors.

• Adults and high school students from around Jacksonville serve as mentors and tutors for our refugee youth.

• Citibank is donating 21-inch computer monitors to help LSS office staff. tional items, books, music, movies, dolls, • Churches, other nonprofit agencies, and corporate groups sponsor Mobile Pantry and more. Church members delivered events throughout the year. their presents to the church by Dec. 11 • In addition to donating $1,000 as part and LSS staff joined them in delivering of their Global Days of Service prothe presents to the children’s homes. gram, Chase members put on a Fall • The U.S. Marines (Toys for Tots) donated Christmas presents for six Festival for 12 refugee families. They youth refugees. helped with arts and crafts, games, • Riverside Presbyterian Church donated prizes, a snow-cone machine, lunch presents for 20 refugee families. with a cake for dessert, and gift bags • Public relations professionals attending for the families.

Tinsel Tangle, the annual December • The Winn-Dixie Foundation and Dr. social of North Florida Public Relations Pepper donated a brand new Dodge Society of America and Jacksonville Caravan to the agency to Florida Public Relations Association were help transport refugees.

R E P R E S E N TAT I V E

PAY E E

S E RVI C E S

Program manages individuals’ finances to meet needs

T

he Representative Payee Program manages Social Security checks for nearly 1,000 clients each month to make sure that they have their basic living needs met. These people are not capable of spending their money appropriately because they are too young or too old or because they suffer from chronic mental illness or substance abuse. The staff works to get people into homes and off the streets, a challenge especially for those who are suffering from mental illness and substance abuse.

People involved in this program are especially susceptible to making bad spending decisions and are often easily manipulated. LSS fiscal coordinators help them set priorities and pay for basic necessities by first helping them complete a budget, which must include items such as rent, utilities, and food. Their Social Security funds are then deposited monthly by the Social Security Office into the LSS Rep Payee account.

Funds are distributed from the account according to the budget completed by the clients based on bills that the clients bring to their fiscal coordinator. LSS distributes checks from clients’ funds directly to landlords, the Jacksonville Electric Authority, grocery stores, and other payees.

Before they were required to have a Rep Payee, these same people would spend most or all of their Social Security checks on alcohol, drugs, or non-essential items without regard to shelter, food, and other basic needs. They then were forced to turn

to other community resources as well as federal monies to survive the rest of the month, using the resources of other community services to house, feed, or otherwise care for them after their money was gone.

For those people who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or those who are the greatest risk of becoming infected,

D I D YO U K N OW? Rep Payee services reduce homelessness. And, according to the Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. Quality of Life Progress Report, homelessness is an indicator of the quality of life in terms of social well-being. A 2000 study by the Policy Research Associates found that after one year of Representative Payee services, 77 percent of clients reported no days of homelessness, and 82 percent reported living within their means. caseworkers make sure that the money they receive from Social Security is used to provide them the health and social services they need. Without their fiscal coordinator’s help, these clients would likely resort to exchanging sex for money, shelter, food, and street drugs, increasing the spread of infection and requiring continual involvement by the criminal justice system.

LSS manages about six million dollars in Social Security funds yearly and has safe-

F I NA N C I A L

guards in place to prevent mismanagement.

For example, Rep Payee staff must request disbursements from accounting personnel rather than generating the checks themselves. The program’s supervisory staff and Finance Department staff reconcile client funds daily and supervisory staff review each check request to check for accuracy and to prevent fraud. In addition, LSS maintains insurance to protect clients against loss of funds due to financial mismanagement.

As the result of fraud in the program that occurred this past summer despite these stringent safeguards, the agency added even more control measures. The minimum dollar level was lowered for automatic check signing. Checks requested over $500 now require a manual signature. At least 20 percent of those checks are randomly reviewed to ensure that expenses match the information in the client file. Also, program staff is no longer permitted to create vendors in the computer system. The Finance Department must create vendors based on a submitted form with back-up documentation. On the other hand, the Finance Department cannot enter a check request, a further separation of duties. Lastly, all check requests and vendor requests from the program director must be approved by the director of operations.

According to the Social Security Department, the Department of Children and Families, and external auditors LSS has responded responsibly to the problem and has put appropriate controls in place.

H E L P

Mentally challenged man benefits from financial help, continues education Leandria Balkcom, fiscal coordinator for Lutheran Social Services’ Representative Payee Program, has no doubt that at least one of the people she serves appreciates her. “He tells me ‘I appreciate you’ and ‘you are so good to me’ every time he comes to visit,” Leandria says.

He has been a Rep Payee client for two years. He was brought from Iran to the United States when he was a young boy. He worked 13 years for a national company with a local regional office until he had to leave due to mental illness.

About six months ago, he was able to move from a boarding home to an apartment, where he lives alone.

Leandria has put him on a budget and pays all his bills – rent, utilities, and cell phone – plus she gives him an allowance for food and personal items. He has begun taking computer classes through Florida Community College at Jacksonville. He has told Leandria that he wants to be able to go back to work because he misses it so much. ““He keeps up with his financial paperwork, but he has to have everything explained to him several times. He seems to understand that we need to help him pay his bills,” Leandria says.

“He is one of my best clients. I think that one day he will be able to hold a job,” she says.

A I D S

CA R E

&

E D U C AT I O N

ACE provides early intervention to improve quality of life

D

an Ashdon, director of Lutheran Social Services’ AIDS Care & Education (ACE) Program, was not only able to maintain all of the program’s services and activities at the same level as the previous year, a remarkable feat given the tighter financial situation in which the state finds itself, but he was actually able to add a service and serve more clients than the previous year, enabling the ACE program to finish the fiscal year on a high note.

“We were pleased to be able to start offering USDA food commodities from our own LSS Second Harvest Food Bank to the people we serve to help them make their food budgets stretch,” Dan says.

“Also, someone donated a refrigerator to us and we are now able to keep bread and perishable food in limited quantities in our food pantry.”

As another example of sharing resources between programs, Dan began working in concert with LSS Refugee & Immigrant Services case workers. Now, refugees who arrive HIV-positive or with AIDS can receive help through the ACE program.

The ACE program needs your help!

People whom the ACE Program serves have special medical needs, in addition to basic living needs. Please donate any of the following by calling 904.448.5995 to arrange a pick-up or drop the items off at our main offices, 4615 Philips Highway.

• • • • • • • • •

Walkers and canes Shower chairs Glucometers Blood pressure cuffs Ensure drinks Non-perishable food Clean clothes Toilet paper Toiletries, including shampoo, soap, conditioner, toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, and disposable razors

The uncertainty of continued government funding continues to mean anxious moments for Dan and the other program directors. “We weathered the loss of Ryan White grant dollars to the overall Northeast Florida area, which might have resulted in our losing funding and having to cut back programs,” Dan says.

When the Center for Disease Control (CDC) grant that supports the program’s Jail LINC case management and housing services ended on Sept. 30, the program faced the possibility of having to end those services.

Jail LINC provides HIV testing, education, and advocacy for HIV positive inmates of the Duval County Jail. Two in-jail case managers provide discharge planning for those clients enrolling in the program to ensure that the client receives medical care, housing, substance abuse treatment, and mental health services from the moment they are released. The goal of this program is both to provide early intervention for those with high-risk lifestyles and behaviors, and to try to prevent clients’ relapse into the kind of criminal behavior that originally exposed them to these high-risk activities.

“We ultimately received funding from the City of Jacksonville for the housing grant and a Ryan White grant paid for the case management portion of the services we give,” says Dan. By year’s end, the ACE program had served a total of 763 people in its various programs: 72 received mental health services, 284 received Ryan White case management services, 197 received Medicaid case management services, 136 received housing services, and 74 received Jail LINC case management services.

“Case management exists to keep our clients connected with medical care so that they can maintain their health at the optimum level,” Dan explains. “Unfortunately, the barriers are many and diverse, so our job is extensive.” Caseworkers help their clients with a host of everyday steps, from health care to financial needs to basic living skills.

They help clients with all aspects of

D I D YO U K N OW? In the United States approximately one-fourth of the estimated 850,000950,000 persons living with HIV are unaware of their infection and thus are not receiving needed treatment and prevention services. An important part of Lutheran Social Services’ ACE program work is in prevention and education. Identifying persons with HIV early means that they receive medical assistance that allows them to be as healthy as possible and makes them aware of how they can prevent infecting others. their medical care, such as finding transportation to medical appointments, completing paperwork to receive medications, applying for Medicaid and Disability benefits, and accessing eye, dental, and mental health services. They refer clients to agencies that can help them pay for their rent and utilities and help them find furniture, household items, heaters, AC units, clothing, and other personal items. They refer clients to substance abuse programs and support groups, help clients move into homes and apartments, advise them on daily living skills, and help them find and interview for jobs. They serve as advocates for their clients to lawyers, landlords, and Department of Children & Families staff.

The ACE Program hopes to expand its clothes and household goods closet.

“Donations from individuals are a tremendous help,” Dan says. “Whenever you think about getting rid of clothes, remember LSS, or if you need to buy a broom or bucket or household cleaning product, buy a second one and donate it to us.”

You can call LSS at 904.448.5995 to arrange for us to pick up goods you are donating or you can drop them off at the main administrative offices at 4615 Philips Highway any weekday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you are donating clothes, please make sure they are delivered clean and ready to wear.

LSS Board of Directors

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES

Officers The Reverend David Imhoff President Ms. Marie Friedsam Vice President Ms. Ginger Ingold, Secretary Mr. Carl Carver, Treasurer

OF

Members Mr. Tracey Arpen Mr. Kenneth Dufford Ms. Janet Golden Mr. David Gooding Mr. Joe Hines Mr. Lawrence Huser Mr. Donald Martin Mr. Gene Maszy Ms. Rosyln Phillips The Reverend Alec Pueschel

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAI D JACKSONVILLE, FL PERMIT NO. 1610

NORTHEAST FLORIDA, INC.

4615 PHILIPS HIGHWAY JACKSONVILLE, FL 32207

SOLUTIONS

FROM THE

HEART.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

ACE program goes extra mile for people

By Debbie Holmes, Trinity Lutheran Church volunteer

T

o talk to the case managers with the ACE program, you would not know under their generally calm exteriors how much of an advocate they are for their clients, nor the heartbreaking stories they could tell about the people whom they serve on a daily basis. The following is one of those stories.

A woman came to the ACE program during a series of incredible events. Left alone to fend for herself and eight children, she found herself in a very stressful situation.

One day, while having an argument with her belligerent sixteen-year-old daughter, she popped her daughter in the mouth and that started the ball rolling down the hill.

Her daughter had her arrested, she was sent to jail for six months, and her sister moved into her home to care for her children. The woman thought she could trust her sister to be responsible; after all she had cared for her sister’s children on many occasions. Instead, she learned that her sister not only let the bills go without paying them, but literally destroyed her home along with the contents inside. And, the most devastating news, her sister was negligent with her children.

In stepped the Department of Children & Families (DCF), and before the woman

knew what was going on, all of her children were put in the foster care system. But that is not where the story ends. Once she was back at home, she began the process of trying to get custody of her children and to at least see them. As she stepped off the bus on her way to a DCF hearing, her ex-boyfriend attacked her, stabbing her all over her body.

Hospitalized, she missed the meeting. She was again denied access to her children and because of her injuries now found she was disabled in the use of one arm. These events would be overwhelming to even the strongest of us, so now imagine going through them while dealing with AIDS. All hope seemed lost for this woman; and it might have been if not for one person – her LSS caseworker. The caseworker got in touch with DCF and the supervisor of the woman’s case worker, and had visitation rights restored to her. In order for her children to live with her again, she had to have adequate housing. Next, the caseworker asked volunteers from her church to paint the woman’s house and coordinated with them and the City Rescue Mission for furnishings. She then asked for donations to replace the refrigerator and the other appliances which had been destroyed.

Because of the woman’s sentence, she was required to go to anger management and drug treatment classes but because of her

disability, she was having difficulty finding employment and could not pay for the classes. The caseworker persuaded River Region and Hubbard House to assist with the classes. Before she was through, she even had Catholic Charities assisting the woman, too.

ACE program employees go way beyond assisting with medical expenses.

This particular woman was married young with little education. Being a wife and mother was all she new and her world was literally destroyed by the actions of others she knew, trusted, and cared for. For the caseworker, it was never a question of whether or not she should take the extra time to look out for her. “She’s doing the best she can and taking the steps needed to get her life back. For someone like that you’re going to go that extra mile,” the caseworker said.

In this case, there is a bitter-sweet ending. The woman still has to deal with AIDS, but two years later, all her children, except the sixteen-year-old, are once again living at home with her, and she is at peace. The caseworker sight visits are pleasant and the children are well-behaved now that they are home with mom. The AIDS Care and Education program exists to access medical programs for its clients, but it ends up doing much more.