USHERING IN THE NEW YEAR
January 7, 2021
It’s almost trite to say that most of us could not wait to put 2020 behind us! Yet, for all of the challenges that 2020
presented to Lutheran Family Services and the people we serve, LFS rose to meet the needs of more individuals, families, and communities than years prior.
When we began drafting our strategic plan, Ambition 2024, in 2019, we researched, contemplated, and planned for numerous scenarios — changes in funding, the evolving needs of the people we serve, environmental impacts due to climate change, changing political landscapes, systemic racism, and poverty, as well as shifts in demographics, to name a few considerations. A global pandemic did not even make the list. However, our commitment to being Agile, Responsive to People’s Needs, and remaining A Preferred and Trusted Partner has enabled LFS to persevere and ultimately thrive.
As such, our locations remain closed until certain CDC recommended thresholds and vaccination goals have been met. Our programs and services remain virtual for your safety! Until we can meet with you in-person, telehealth capacity has been expanded to meet the growing needs and demands of pandemic-related and ongoing mental and behavioral health impacting our communities. LFS has even established satellite telehealth facilities at partner locations across the state from Omaha, Lincoln, and Fairbury to Holdrege, and Scottsbluff.
Our committed, caring, and thoughtful staff place the people serve at the center of everything we do as we continue our work to improve lives and communities. Together, with the people we serve and our partners across Nebraska and Pottawattamie County, LFS expresses love for all people and will work to provide safety, hope and well-being for all people.
FROM PRESIDENT & CEO STACY MARTIN
July 23, 2020
Dear LFS Business Partner,
In alignment with our mission, vision, and values, LFS is responding to COVID-19 by implementing strategies to limit exposure and the potential spread of illness. We have and continue to take action to protect our communities, team members, and the people we serve. This includes actions and precautions that may impact you, our valued partner. As you may already know, the following safety measures have been implemented for all of LFS:
- Appointments are now required to access any LFS office location. To request an appointment for our Lincoln office, please contact Brianna Kaufman (402) 405-7319 or bkaufman@lfsneb.org. To request an appointment at all other LFS locations outside of Lincoln or to ask any questions about the LFS pandemic response, please contact Dawn Harris at (712) 635-6346 or dharris@lfsneb.org.
- When arriving at our offices, you are required to wear a mask. Should you arrive without a mask, LFS will supply one for you.
- Clients, business partners, and other visitors to LFS offices are all verbally screened prior to permitted entrance into any interior office space. The verbal screening will be accompanied by a noninvasive temperature check performed by a designated staff member.
- Visitors who screen negative will receive a “SCREENED” sticker indicating that they have been successfully screened.
- Visitors who screen positive will be denied entry into the office and asked to reschedule their appointment or engage in their appointment using an alternative method as soon as possible. Visitors who screen positive will be encouraged to consult their healthcare provider for guidance.
We ask for your patience, understanding, and flexibility as we continue to navigate through the pandemic.
Grace and peace,
Stacy Martin
President & CEO
June 4, 2020
Safety, hope, and well-being are enormously impacted by where people live, work, and play. This is a foundational consideration in everything we do at Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska. We strive every day to help people transform lives and communities and work with great humility and urgency to help dismantle the systems and barriers that continue to give advantage to some while hurting and marginalizing others. This past week, that pain was acutely felt and boiled over in the streets of our city.
Because of the work that we do at LFS, we know that we live in a state with one of the highest wealth disparities in the country. We also know that Nebraska’s difference in poverty rates between white and minority communities is higher than the national average, as well as having less access to mental health care than almost all other 49 states. Our work has never been more important!
With a deep understanding of the long shadow of racism and its intersection with poverty, we are engaged in the imperative work at the individual, community, state, and national levels to dismantle historical racist systems, to foster equitable environments, and to help achieve our vision of safety, hope and well-being for every person. We are dedicated to work with mercy with every individual we meet and serve and to do the hard work together toward justice.
During this challenging time in our nation’s history, it is heartbreaking to see the images of brutality across the country and particularly in our own community. LFS is doing everything we can to build whole, welcoming communities in which everyone is safe and valued and treated with dignity and equality.
My prayer for our communities and our commitment on behalf of all of us at LFS is that we may never tire, that we may never be discouraged of the holy work of mercy and justice entrusted to us, and that we may heal in this long fight ahead of building toward a shared and common good.
Grace and peace,
Stacy Martin
President & CEO
