Changes to come to Lutheran Social Services

BARSTOW • Local counseling and group therapy provider Lutheran Social Services is undergoing several changes including layoffs of three of its six staff members and plans to move locations. Despite concerns from clients, Lutheran Social Services is keeping its doors open, said Linda DeWald, outreach coordinator, amidst rumored fears that the agency was closing shop.

According to DeWald, the agency is going through hard financial straits and recently laid off half its staff, which caused some clients to wonder whether the offices would be closing down. But contrary to those concerns, DeWald said, the provider is actually positioning to expand its services in Barstow by moving in with Desert Sanctuary on East Main Street.

Lutheran Social Services’ office on 400 South Second Avenue, Suite 111 will be moving into the 109 North Seventh Avenue building on Desert Sanctuary’s complex by mid-December, according to Pat Cormican, the agency’s area director.

The agency, which has had a close partnership with Desert Sanctuary for about four years, already holds its therapy classes at the domestic violence shelter, according to Peggi Fries, executive director of Desert Sanctuary.

Lutheran Social Services, which provides services ranging from parenting classes and teen anger management to domestic violence counseling, will go from having two rooms to see clients to the multi-building facility at Desert Sanctuary, which offers facilities like childcare rooms stocked with stuffed animals, board games and kid-friendly furniture. The move will also give Lutheran Social Services direct access to on-site childcare, which will help out adults taking classes who often cite lack of childcare as the reason for not seeking help.

Along with the move, the agency will be changing its name to LSS Community Care Center, said DeWald. The reason, she said, is to prevent any further confusion that the agency aims to only serve residents who are of the Lutheran denomination.

In addition to the extra space at Desert Sanctuary, the agency is looking at expanding out into the community by holding group sessions at churches including Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, according to Pastor Lili Bush.

Bush said she offered the space to DeWald and her staff, in between other groups like Boy Scouts or Narcotics Anonymous that also share the fellowship hall.

“It’s a way for us to reach out to the community and address their needs,” Bush said.

And that outreach is important, according to Angela Pasco, executive director of transitional housing agency New Hope Village. New Hope requires all its parents to attend parenting classes at Lutheran Social Services. Pasco said those sessions have been making a positive impact.

“They do come back talking about the parenting classes,” she said.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4122 or elee@desertdispatch.com