Economic Downturn Impacts Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations
CHICAGO-(Business Wire)-February 4, 2009 - A Lutheran social service agency in Florida is operating on a deficit for the first time in 10 years. A Lutheran agency in California reported that many families in the Santa Clarita Valley are sleeping in their cars. In Iowa, philanthropy is being hurt not only by the economic downturn but also by donor fatigue, as a result of tornado and flood disaster response.
Lutheran health and human service organizations across the country are seeing an increase in the demand for services in the current economic downturn. But government cutbacks are leaving Lutheran social service providers with dwindling resources.
"The government is cutting back at the very time human needs are increasing," said Jackie Nelson, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS-MN), St. Paul.
LSS-MN is one of 300 social ministry organizations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. These organizations participate in an alliance known as Lutheran Services in America (LSA), which serves more than 6 million people annually in the United States and Caribbean. The aggregated budgets of these organizations total over $10 billion.
Lisa M. Carr, LSA senior director of public policy, Washington, D.C., and others met Jan. 16 with appropriations staff of the U.S. Speaker of the House to discuss what the economic recovery package should contain to secure affordable housing for individuals and families facing homelessness.
LSA requested that the package include $45 billion to create affordable housing and rental opportunities. "Instead, $17 billion has been proposed," said Carr. She said the reason for the lower amount was due to the concern of the appropriations staff that it takes time to produce affordable housing structures.
"They understood that we wanted more money (and) agreed that this isn't really the best bill," Carr said. "They said that they've advocated for as much as they could, hoping that the $17 billion amount would stay throughout the process and not decrease."
In addition to affordable housing funds, Carr said LSA is advocating that the economic package include plans for assuring that efficient and effective nonprofit organizations can meet the current increased demand for services.
Read more of this story at http://tinyurl.com/cfayty on the ELCA Web site.
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