December 2003

We live in perilous times-especially if "we" is young, or poor, or uninsured, or disabled, or homeless. In the most recent session of the legislature, the people of Minnesota elected to weaken the safety net for vulnerable people. We have begun to see the result. Click here to learn more!

From the outside, the Minnesota State Capitol can look peaceful and serene, but inside during the winter months when the legislature meets, it is more like a beehive of activity. It can seem like every issue and interest group has a presence at the Capitol in one way or another.  Click here to read more!

Marcy Fredrickson has seen kids who have run away from their homes. She has known young people whose parents refuse - or can't - parent their own children. She has taught kids in her high school classes who have been all but forgotten by their families. Her own son, even, had his challenges, despite a caring mother and stable home life. All of these kids are the kinds of kids Marcy Fredrickson sees as her responsibility.  Click here to read more!

What role should the church assume when it comes to society's vulnerable kids and teens? This is often not the group that attends our churches. And yet, our willingness to address this question may the mean the difference between life and death for some of these kids.  Click here to learn more!

Nancy Ojard is on a mission. So is John Sippola. The two are teaming up with LSS to
safeguard kids and the emergency outreach services that protect them through a new campaign to save LSS Street Outreach and LSS Renaissance transitional housing for youth in Duluth.  Click here to read more!

When we moved to Duluth from Chicago in March of 1993 our family was in crisis. We had moved to Chicago in 1989, in part, so that our daughter - our only daughter and a middle child - could receive first-rate ballet training. She had danced for eight years prior to our move and had danced as a young student with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company for two successive seasons in their performances of "The Nutcracker" at Northrup Auditorium in Minneapolis. In addition, our daughter was studying piano and was a gifted painter. Being very bright, she had a quick, sometimes wicked, sense of humor. She was our bright and shining star, and the apple of my eye. Click here to find out more!

I no longer spend days and nights worrying about my runaway daughter Francesca, wondering if she is safe, if she has enough to eat, if she is warm. Nonetheless, the fear that delineated seven years of our lives remains. It shudders through me each time I hear of another child missing, read statistics of homeless youth, learn of another teenage death. For whatever reason, our children are out there -- troubled and frightened and in need of help.  Click here to learn more!

"I know there is a better life out there," said Stephanie Albritton, a polite, outgoing 15-year-old high school sophomore who lives in Holdingford, Minn. She knows that because she's been through a lot in her life, but she's come a long way too. In and out of foster care since she was six years old, Stephanie grew up without developing any healthy relationships in her life. It resulted in a host of problems, but three years ago she was adopted into a family in Holdingford, and her progress has been steady ever since. To help her continued development, Stephanie now participates in an LSS mentorship program called the Youth Empowerment Program in St. Cloud, Minn.  Click here to read more!

Paris Williams works full-time, goes to school full-time, and she is rarely at home. The good thing is that, for the past year, she has a place she can call home. Paris left home at age 15 after having problems with her mother, and for about six months, she was homeless. She did what she could to survive, going from shelter to shelter, or sleeping on friends' couches. She finally landed at LSS Rezek House, a long-term transitional housing program, consisting of 12 apartments for 16-21 year-olds in St. Paul. Paris has been there for a year, and plans to be there for another year until she reaches the Rezek limit of two years. Click here to find out more!