HeartBeats Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, Inc. • 4615 Philips Highway • Jacksonville, FL 32207
Refugee & Immigration Services
Assisting refugees in adapting quickly & successfully to life in the United States Imagine for a minute that you are forced to leave your home and the country you grew up in because of terrible persecution, most likely because of your religion or your political viewpoint. What would it be like to arrive in a strange country where you don’t speak the language, have no means of support and don’t know the customs or methods for finding a home or a job? Thankfully, it is almost impossible for American citizens to imagine this scenario, but according to a United Nations report in June of 2010, there are over 15 million refugees in the world right now. Through a system of interviews and background checks, about 80,000 refugees are allowed to come to the United States each year, and in 2010, about 300 came to Jacksonville through Lutheran Social Services.
support to help them succeed. Through job training programs, we help the parents find jobs or if they have professional job skills, we help them develop career goals and find jobs in their field of experience. Since 1979, LSS has been called to bring rich cultural diversity and productive new citizens to Jacksonville through our refugee resettlement program.
As soon as they step off the plane, LSS takes them to a new home located close to transportation and a grocery store. The second day they are in Jacksonville, they begin orientation. Soon their children are enrolled in school and our Refugee Youth & Family Services team provides academic
Second Harvest North Florida
$1 can provide 7 meals As impossible as it sounds, for every dollar that is donated, Second Harvest North Florida can provide seven meals to the hungry in our community. How do we do it? We carefully cultivate food sources like donations from wholesale and retail food suppliers, harvesting fresh produce from fields that would otherwise be plowed under and community food drives
through churches, businesses, schools and individuals. Volunteers help to contain labor expenses through the generous donation of their time and skills. In 2010, we benefited from more than 12,500 hours of work provided by over 2,600 volunteers. Second Harvest works with over 400 member nonprofit agencies in 18 counties to assure that
food is provided to those who are truly in need - agencies like The Sulzbacher Center, the Salvation Army, the Police Athletic League and hundreds of other neighborhood agencies and places of worship of every faith. In 2010 we increased our food distribution by 85%, providing enough food for almost 15 million meals and serving over 170,000 people. But with 20 percent of North Florida’s population suffering from food insecurity, the need is even greater. Our goal for 2011 is to provide food for 17.7 million meals.
Representative Payee Services Helping people manage their money Without a service like Representative Payee (Rep Payee), there would be more homeless people, abandoned children and seniors not receiving their prescription medication. Our clients are some of Jacksonville’s most vulnerable residents – young children, the homeless, people who are mentally or physically ill and seniors living on fixed incomes.
Established in 1995, the Rep Payee Services at LSS has nine staff members who serve 1,400 clients. Those clients receive Social Security benefits, disability income, pensions, Veterans Administration benefits or retirement funds. The Rep Payee staff ensures that bills are paid, that seniors get their prescriptions and that clients are not deceived into buying unneeded items.
AIDS Care and Education Program Improving the quality of life and health Thankfully, advances in medicine mean that a diagnosis of being HIV positive is no longer a death sentence in the United States, but it is still incurable and takes a huge financial, emotional and physical toll on its victims. The LSS AIDS Care and Education program (ACE) was founded in 1992 when there were few support programs in existence. Today we serve over 800 clients, helping them find medical and dental care, housing assistance, mental health care, legal assistance, support groups, job placement and continued education.
The Sharing Place
Shop for great buys and help support LSS programs at the same time The Sharing Place Thrift Store is much more than a place to find a great bargain. Purchases or donations of gently used or new items that are no longer needed can help generate revenue to support LSS programs. They can also help meet the needs of people served through LSS Refugee and Immigration Services or the ACE program. Many of the household items, furniture and clothing that come to the thrift store are put into immediate use for refugee families beginning a new life with little or no personal items. In 2010, the cash value provided to LSS programs was over $51,000. This is money that we did not have to spend to set up homes for refugees. The Sharing Place is located at Lutheran Social Services’ main offices, 4615 Phillips Highway. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.