Changing Lives Today
LSS Mentoring Services
Michelle Madsen, Director
Nearly every Thursday, you could find Kyle Beck eating lunch with Max, a soon-to-be 4th grader at RF Pettigrew Elementary. Kyle, who has young children of his own and works full time at Daktronics as a Project Manager, enjoys mentoring at Pettigrew. “I really like being part of the school community here. The staff here […]
LSS Center for Financial Resources
Breck Miller, Community Relations Coordinator
Let me tell you about a college student I had in a class once. At the end of class, nearly everyone had left except for one student. The way they held back, I knew there was a conversation coming. Once the other students left, they finally approached me and said, “I have a problem I […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Lindy Obach, ESL Instructor
Teacher Carol is our resident STEP class teacher here at the Center for New Americans. STEP classes, or Skills That Employ People classes, are offered once or twice a month and range in everything from intro to patient care to housekeeping. In June, the class was all about general manufacturing, where students learned the […]
LSS Center for Financial Resources
Breck Miller, Community Relations Coordinator
Family vacations. They can be a ton of fun and make memories that last a lifetime. I can still get sentimental about my own childhood vacations and those were a while ago (a long, long, long time ago if you ask my kids). Sometimes, though, those memories can also come with a cost. It […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Heather Glidewell, ESL InstructorHeather Glidewell, ESL Instructor
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, a total of 22,491 refugees came to the United States in 2018, and the largest number of refugees came from the countries of Congo, Myanmar, Ukraine, Bhutan, and Eritrea. It goes without saying that the main languages of these countries are not English but rather Congolese, French, Kayah, […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Lindy Obach, ESL Instructor
The advanced speaking classes at the Center for New Americans recently took advantage of both this beautiful weather AND the opportunity to see the newest, coolest (and did I mention FREE) sight Sioux Falls has to offer: The Levitt Shell at the Falls! Teachers Amy and Lindy, along with wonderful volunteer, Teacher Karen, and their […]
LSS Mentoring Services
Michelle Madsen, Director
LSS Mentoring will expand to Flandreau Middle School in 2019-2020.
LSS Center for Financial Resources
Breck Miller, Community Relations Coordinator
As we reach the tail end of National Home Ownership Month (also known as ‘June’), I thought maybe it would be appropriate to talk about the ways to end ownership of your home. Hey, all good things must come to an end, right? Sometimes the end is by our choice. Sometimes we don’t have a […]
LSS Mentoring Services
Michelle Madsen, Director
One question that we are often asked is how can mentoring make a difference? Anecdotal stories abound, and we love to hear those. But we also like to see the impact in numbers. Every year, LSS asks mentors to assess their students progress in nine areas – grades, interest in school, school attendance, behavior, self-esteem, […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Lindy Obach, ESL Instructor
We’re in the business of helping people. Recently, The Center for New Americans has been able to provide resources, career coaching, and job skills classes to refugee student populations in Sioux Falls through a new program called RISE, which helps its participants in overcoming barriers to skilled employment or higher ed. CNA teachers and job […]
LSS Center for Financial Resources
Breck Miller, Community Relations Coordinator
June is National Home Ownership Month. That’s a mouthful in and of itself. If you read deeper, however, I think it’s a pretty loaded phrase. Look at just one of the words – ‘home’. How would you define home? Traditionally, it is the single-family home with a white picket fence. Yeah, you know the kind. […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Heather Glidewell, ESL Instructor
Here are a few more tips I learned from my students over the past couple of months while discussing health care. Home Stomachache Remedies Stomachaches plague both the young and old. Perhaps we eat the wrong food or catch a nasty bug. Maybe we are just stressed out. Regardless, dealing with a stomachache can […]
LSS Mentoring Services
Michelle Madsen, Director
The results of the 2018-19 survey of school personnel about the LSS Mentor Program.
LSS Center for Financial Resources
Breck Miller, Community Relations Coordinator
Do you want to buy a house? Great! What are you looking for in a house? Not sure? That’s ok. Oh, you want to figure it out as you go through houses and think about it on the fly? If you have started looking at homes, you know how hard it can be to […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Lindy Obach, ESL Instructor
In the Center for New Americans’ pre-GED English class, we just finished a 6-week long unit on the American government system. The students read and wrote about the ways the three branches of government work together to make our country a better place. We also spent time learning about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act […]
Depression and its symptoms can be difficult to identify. With counseling from Lutheran Social Services, you can have a better life.
LSS Center for New Americans
Silke Hansen, ESL Instructor
You asked? We answered! Oftentimes as soon as they arrive in Sioux Falls our clients and students ask when they can apply for citizenship because they want to bring their whole family. Following are more answers to some of their frequently asked questions about the long road to citizenship. My name is misspelled – can […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Lindy Obach, ESL Instructor
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” – MLK, Jr. Are you kind, compassionate, and welcoming? Do you love to laugh and make new friends? Are you interested in meeting people from all over the world? Do you love to spread joy and knowledge? Are you looking for a […]
Lutheran Social Services is licensed in South Dakota to help you determine if adoption is right for you. We’re here with adoption services to assist in every step of this important process.
Lutheran Social Services offers pregnancy counseling for those considering choosing adoption. We support birth mothers, birth fathers, and children throughout the entire process.
LSS Center for Financial Resources
Breck Miller, Community Relations Coordinator
What do you want to be when you grow up? Me? I don’t know, but I’ll let you know when I do finally grow up….. (imagine a rim shot here). But seriously, it’s a big question that our kids are thinking about early on in their lives. As most of us adults know, that will […]
LSS Center for New Americans
Heather Glidewell, ESL Instructor
This past month we have been talking about health care with our students. In my upper-level English class, we discussed some home remedies that my students use. I learned so much from them! Home Burn Remedies From cooking mishaps to fun in the summer sun, we all have burns sometimes. Here are a […]
LSS Adoption & Pregnancy Counseling Services
Joyce Twite, Administrative Support Specialist
The day before Mother’s Day is recognized as Birth Mother’s Day (May 11, 2019). Here are ten of the ten thousand things birth mothers want the world to know.
LSS Mentoring Services
Michelle Madsen, Director
Read about a Citi employee who had a great mentor and is honoring her by mentoring the next generation.
