Lutheran Social Services adoption director earns Congressional nomination for adoption advocacy
Aug. 2, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas - Karalyn Heimlich, executive director of adoption services for Lutheran Social Services, was nominated as a 2007 Angel in Adoption by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Congressman Michael McCaul, R-Austin.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption program, will honor Heimlich along with more than 180 Angels, at an awards ceremony and gala in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 4.

Heimlich is being honored for her commitment to adoption and serving children and families. Since joining LSS in 1975, Heimlich has helped to place more than 5,500 children in loving, adoptive homes. Her advocacy efforts on a statewide level and her work with the Adoption Coalition of Texas have helped thousands of adoptive children and families.

The Angels in Adoption program is CCAI's signature public awareness campaign and provides an opportunity for all members of the U.S. Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad.

"Our goal is to raise awareness of the millions of orphans and foster children in the United States and abroad that are in need of permanent, safe and loving homes, and we congratulate Karalyn for her role in helping us to achieve this goal," said Deanna Carlson Stacy, CCAI's executive director. "Thanks to Sen. Hutchison and Congressman McCaul, Karalyn will receive the recognition she deserves for her tireless effort in the mission of helping these children realize their basic right of a family."

"I can't think of anyone more deserving of this award than Karalyn," said Kurt Senske, chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services. "For more than 32 years, she has dedicated her life to helping create families. Her compassion and empathy on a personal level for the children and the families, both birth and adoptive, make her a successful advocate for adoption. We are extremely proud of this recognition."

In addition to adoption and foster care, LSS operates three children's residential treatment centers, a children's emergency shelter, senior retirement communities, long-term disaster response and emergency assistance. LSS is the social service arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

In 2003, LSS was recognized by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute as an Angel in Adoption.

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