Lutheran Social Services, Inc.
At the sign-in table, guests received programs and a copy of "A Light Unto My Path", a video highlighting the services provided by LSS. Over 150 people attended the open house event.
President and CEO of LSS Dr. Kurt Senske welcomes everyone to the open house and dedication ceremony. The event celebrated the completed expansion and renovation of the Cross Park office.
The Rev. Ken Hennings leads the prayer of dedication at the ceremony. Hennings is the President of the Texas District of The Lutheran - Church Missouri Synod.
State Representative Dawnna Dukes delivers remarks at the dedication ceremony. Dukes has worked to ensure funding for human services and is an important advocate of LSS.

 

Lutheran Social Services celebrates expansion
with open house and dedication ceremony
April 11, 2008


AUSTIN - Lutheran Social Services hosted an open house and dedication ceremony April 9 to celebrate the renovation and expansion of the Austin office.

Over 150 people attended the event, which included a welcome by LSS President and CEO Dr. Kurt Senske, a prayer of dedication by the Rev. Ken Hennings, president of the Texas District of The Lutheran - Church Missouri Synod; and remarks from State Representative Dawnna Dukes.

"We wanted to celebrate the conclusion of this renovation and rejoice in the opportunities to serve more people," Senske said. "Together with those that have supported us we are providing services our visionary founders could never have dreamed of."

Lutheran Social Services started in Round Rock, Texas in 1926 as an "asylum" for orphans and widows. The agency later merged with a sister organization in Louisiana, which was founded in 1881 to care for orphans of the black plague and yellow fever, to form Lutheran Social Services of the South.

LSS moved to the building in May 2002. Before that, the agency was operating out of two different spaces about five miles apart - not an ideal situation. After an extensive search, LSS discovered the Cross Park office and purchased it for 50 cents on the dollar.

After experiencing significant growth in several programs, including foster care which has doubled in size, LSS began to build out the warehouse space behind the office to accommodate the expansion of services.

"Today, through the grace of God we have programs in 26 communities throughout Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi that are supported by staff in this building," Senske said. "Like our forebears, LSS continues to be a ministry of neighbors serving neighbors in need."

Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc., is the social service arm of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LSS annually serves nearly 35,000 children, elderly and poor in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi regardless of religious beliefs, ethnicity, gender or age.

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