Dear friends of Lutheran Homes Society:
At Lutheran Homes Society we hear the call of our mission statement that implores us to minister to those youth and elderly and infirmed who cannot care for themselves. It calls for us to make safe places where elderly can feel secure in surroundings that are compatible with their lives.
It calls us to step beyond our immediate needs and be the face and hands and heart of Christ in the world. It calls us to go outside of our comfort zones of life to ensure that such places and services are available to all who need them.
Let me introduce you to Jim who was diagnosed with a rare disorder that affects one-in-a-million people. He was hospitalized for ten weeks and was admitted to the nursing facility as a quadriplegic. Jim required total dependence on staff because he had no head or trunk control and a lifting device had to be used to transfer him from bed to chair, and he could only tolerate 15 minutes at a time in a reclined position. He was on a feeding tube because he could not swallow. Jim had many hallucinations and no concept of time and place.
Focus on initial therapy concentrated on head and trunk control and range of motion because of extreme head and shoulder contractures. It took a lot of repetitiveness, patience, perseverance and tender loving care to work through his delusions. He underwent intensive occupational, physical, and speech therapy, along with medication and procedures in the hospital.
Jim progressed beyond all expectations of the medical community and was able to move into an assisted living facility in April. He is now walking with the assistance of a walker and a cane and is expecting to return to his two-story, four-bedroom home. He is also expected to be able to drive his car. Jim’s recovery is attributable to his strong work ethic, the help of staff of the rehab facility and his caregivers.
Some would say it is a living miracle that Jim was even able to recover, let alone live at home and resume driving a car. Such “miracles” happen every day at Lutheran Homes Society facilities.
These “miracles” can only happen with the financial assistance of donors like yourself who realize that in the midst of government regulations that continue to reduce the amount of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement for such cases and the long-term assistance that is needed beyond what is reimbursed by private pay or other programs, we must continue the good work of Lutheran Homes Society.
So, I ask you to continue to support LHS in whatever way possible and when doing so remember all of the “Jim’s” who are in each one of our facilities that receive quality, Christ-centered care in a loving environment. Please help us to continue this care.
Kathleen B. Lemmerbrock
Executive Director
LHS Foundation
LHS Foundation was created in 1991 to encourage and promote charitable gifts and volunteer involvement to support the Christian mission and caring ministries of Lutheran Homes Society. The mission of LHS Foundation is to receive, invest, protect, and disburse all donations to the various ministries of Lutheran Homes Society.
For more information, contact:
Kathleen Lemmerbrock, Executive Director
LHS Foundation
2021 N. McCord Road
Toledo, Ohio 43615.
419-861-4965
419-861-4949 fax
KLemmerbrock@LHSOH.org