Dear Friends at Augustana:
Bill and I have supported Lutheran Social Services of Illinois for several decades. I have
served on their Board of Trustees and their endowment fund, the Cornerstone
Foundation. We firmly believe in the organization’s mission and their focus on care for
individuals as whole persons.
The director of LSSI’s 3 Mental Health Group Homes has asked for donations to fund a
special holiday meal and a small gift for each of the 30 residents in this program, in the
amount of $50 per person. These are folks who struggle with major depression, bipolar
disorder, or schizophrenia who can benefit from a supportive community living
arrangement. Residents have their own bedrooms, as well as communal dining rooms,
kitchens, and living rooms. Staff are onsite 24/7 and facilitate regular house meetings at
which residents discuss meal planning, activities, and household chore schedules. Staff
members also work with individual residents to establish personal goals based on their
own situations, such as learning to take public transportation or ultimately living
independently.
Given the severe diagnoses of these children of God, they are all too often ignored,
shunned and discarded by our society. If you have not seen it, there is a depiction of a
person sleeping on a park bench with nail marks on their feet. I hope you will join us in
seeing Christ in these our neighbors.
Checks can be made out to Augustana, you may make a gift online here or use the QR code in the Sunday bulletin. Please indicate that this is for LSSI. We are setting a deadline of December 19th so that we may get our collected donations to LSSI in time for Christmas.
Thank you—
Chris and Bill Tompsett
Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park 