Dear Friends,

Since 1912, Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio has been caring for people in need.  Originally serving the Franklin County area, LSS now provides services in 39 counties in central, southeast and northeast Ohio.  As our programs in southern and northern Ohio have grown, it has become apparent that our centralized management structure is no longer the best approach. 

We have decided to move to a regional structure for the agency.  The regional structure will allow us to focus more of our energy and resources in the communities being served.  We also expect our programming in the north and south to grow through this new structure.

In addition to the greater Columbus area programs administered by LSS, three regional divisions will be created; Lutheran Social Services of Greater Columbus, Lutheran Social Services of Northern Ohio and Lutheran Social Services of Southern Ohio.  Each region will have a president who will maintain an office within the region.  This will allow for greater accessibility and hopefully foster more partnerships between LSS, our congregations and our community partners.

Your regional presidents are Cara Schuster, president of Lutheran Social Services of Northern Ohio, Mike DePaola, president of Lutheran Social Services of Greater Columbus and Leslie Poole, president of Lutheran Social Services of Southern Ohio. Cara, Mike and Leslie have been a part of LSS for many years and share the agency’s passion for service to those in need. 

I am excited about this restructuring as I think it will promote growth and ultimately allow us to fulfill our mission in an even greater capacity.  Each of these divisions will be fully functional by July 1, 2008.  I look forward to our continued partnership as we serve God’s people together. 

In shared service,