Leadership Circle Meets at
Vasa
The LSS Leadership Circle
makes a tremendous impact at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota in
strengthening the institution's ability to serve people. Members of the
Circle are donors who give gifts of $5,000 or more to LSS within the
fiscal year. Gifts can be either unrestricted or designated for a specific
program or purpose.
The Leadership Circle at LSS
has been growing. This year 75 households were members of the Circle,
thanks to their level of generous financial support.
Thirty members of the Leadership Circle gathered in Red Wing, in
late September, to learn more about the history of LSS of Minnesota, its
current services to people in need, and its vision for the future. The
group assembled at Vasa Lutheran Church in Vasa, not far from Red Wing,
which was the congregation founded by Rev. Eric Norelius in 1855. The Vasa
congregation will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. It was in the
basement of Vasa Lutheran Church where Pastor Norelius, his spouse
Charlotte, and members of the congregation created a home for four
orphaned children, a compassionate act of service that led to the
development of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. The group also toured
the Vasa Museum, which houses many artifacts from pioneer life in
Minnesota.
To see the work of LSS today,
Leadership Circle members toured the Vasa Center. Built in 1926 through a
gift from Red Wing inventor A. P. Anderson, the original building served
as an orphanage, providing a home for 55 children. Today the Vasa Center
serves as a residential center for children and youth with developmental
disabilities. The children no longer live in the 1926 Anderson building,
but on the same grounds, in four smaller houses called the Meyer Cottages,
named for the family who donated the construction funds. LSS has developed
a plan for renovating the Anderson building to create recreational areas
and a kitchenette for the children and youth, an educational and
historical center that will tell the story of developing and delivering
social services for children in the Red Wing area over the decades, and a
training center including meeting space. A $500,000 campaign is underway
to renovate the Anderson building.
Mark Peterson, President and
CEO of LSS of Minnesota, and Jodi Harpstead, Chief Advancement Officer,
talked with Circle members about creating a "Movement of Hope" throughout
Minnesota, aimed at accomplishing the following goals by the year 2015:
-
Every child and youth has a
safe, supportive place to live.
-
Every senior has options
that include living at home or in small-group residences.
According to Peterson: "We
know these are lofty goals, and LSS cannot achieve them alone. But we
firmly believe that if we partner with our communities and congregations
through public policy development, public and private funding,
inter-agency partnerships, and individual contributions and volunteerism,
the people of Minnesota are indeed capable of creating an extraordinary
level of community in our state."
