LFCS Receives $270,000 for Disaster Response Efforts
Local social services organization spearheading disaster relief across the state

12/01/05

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 01, 2005 - Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri has received two grants totaling $270,000 to expand its disaster response efforts, enabling the statewide social services agency to add new case workers in St. Louis and Columbia.

LFCS received a $235,000 grant from Lutheran Disaster Response, a joint ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The organization received an additional grant of $35,000 from LCMS World Relief and Human Care, a ministry of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Since the 1993 flood, LFCS has been the designated Lutheran Disaster Response coordinating agency for Missouri. In that role, LFCS works with a variety of public and faith-based disaster response groups to help meet the needs of those impacted by natural or man-made disasters. LFCS Disaster Response has been activated in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

To date, LFCS has added five people to its disaster response team, including four in St. Louis and one in Columbia. The St. Louis headquarters has added Collette Rogers as a case management supervisor; Pat Schmiz and Heather Barker as case managers; and Doug Dick as a volunteer coordinator. The Columbia office has added Kathryn Oberg as a case management supervisor.

"These grants are enabling us to help people across the state with case management, counseling and direct assistance," said Jim Eckrich, director of regional operations, who heads LFCS Disaster Response. "Our team also is assisting the response efforts in southern Alabama with managerial and administrative support so hundreds of families in that area can start recovering from the hurricanes."

LFCS is responding to the needs within its own community by offering long-term case management, mental health services and volunteer coordination in its St. Louis and Columbia offices. LFCS is coordinating direct support for many Katrina families through its Seasons of Sharing program, in which LFCS staff and supporters sponsor a family during the holiday season.

In addition to St. Louis and Columbia, LFCS is supporting the recovery efforts in Springfield and Cape Girardeau, where LFCS' other offices are located. LFCS is working with the United Way, Red Cross, Salvation Army and other agencies in order to make sure it offers the most complementary and comprehensive services to those in need.

Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri is a non-profit, statewide social service organization providing counseling, adoption, crisis pregnancy assistance, day care and mentoring services to the community. With offices in St. Louis, Columbia, Cape Girardeau and Springfield, LFCS touches the lives of more than 22,000 individuals annually. The services provided by LFCS are open to everyone regardless of race, faith, national origin, gender or age. Although Lutheran based, more than 80 percent of families served are non-Lutheran. For more information, visit www.lfcsmo.org.

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Editor's note: Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri is located at: 8631 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. (63124). 401 West Boulevard North, Suite B, Columbia, Mo. (65203). 2911 Breckenridge, Cape Girardeau, Mo. (63701). 1400 S. Kimbrough, Springfield, Mo. (65807).

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