The Park Avenue Apartments will open their doors in less than a month, and LSS is busy getting ready. The process of finding tenants is almost over – as of August 5, almost 90% of the 48 apartments have been set aside for approved residents. With over 1000 applications for housing, a lottery was held to choose families to move in. More than 48 applications were drawn in the lottery because not every family would qualify, and some families have pulled their applications from consideration.

Save the Date: September 25, 2008

The Center for Changing Lives will be the focus for this year’s LSS Celebration for Changing Lives. The dinner will be held September 25, 2008, at the International Market Square, Minneapolis. Register for your on-line invitation by clicking here.

2008 LSS Celebration for Changing Lives: Highlights

Enjoy dinner and fellowship with community leaders like you, people who care deeply about the health and well being of our neighbors.

Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Margaret Anderson Kelliher took a Hard Hat Tour of the Center for Changing Lives on June 18. In the photo, Speaker Anderson Kelliher (left) is pictured with LSS Chief Advancement Officer and former State Representative Ember Reichgott Junge.

A group of local women business leaders went on a Hard Hat Tour July 15 for a sneak preview of the new Center for Changing Lives. The tour was led by Jodi Harpstead, COO of Lutheran Social Service and Kate Wolford, CEO of The McKnight Foundation.

LSS mental health counselor Donna Mayotte spoke to us about what being in the new Center for Changing Lives will mean to employees and the people they serve.

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LSS was recently featured on the KARE11 program BluePrint for Green, where LSS President/CEO Mark Peterson was interviewed regarding the green features of the Center for Changing Lives and the Park Avenue Apartments.

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Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS) discovered that the demand for affordable family housing far exceeds the supply in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. After the June 30 deadline expired for applications for affordable family housing in the new Park Avenue Apartments, staff realized they had over 1000 applications for the 48 units of new housing. The apartments, which will open in September, are located at 2418 Park Avenue in south Minneapolis.

A Center for Changing Lives Breakfast Event was held on May 1 in downtown St. Paul at The Travelers Companies, which sponsored the event. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman spoke at the event regarding his support for LSS and the Center for Changing Lives. St. Paul City Council members, Travelers Companies staff members, St. Paul corporate foundation leaders, Ramsey County Commissioners, church leadership and interested individuals were in attendance as well.

Lutheran Social Service President/CEO Mark Peterson was recently interviewed by host Gail Nosek on her public affairs radio program Minnesota Matters. In the following excerpt, Mark talks about the services that will be offered at the Center for Changing Lives.

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Click here to hear excerpt of Minnesota Matters radio interview with Mark Peterson.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar held a special meeting at the offices of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota in Minneapolis on Saturday, May 3, to speak with people who are trying to adopt children from foreign countries, especially Guatemala and Vietnam. The Senator wanted to gather first-hand information from people who are being affected by foreign governments that are changing or ending the process of allowing adoptions from adoptive parents in other countries.