Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota launches largest fundraising campaign in its history

From its start housing Swedish orphans in a church basement 160 years ago to providing counseling, employment and housing services to 91,000 Minnesotans each year, Lutheran Social Service has sought to adapt, expand and change as needed.

A five-year, $100 million fundraising campaign announced Tuesday will help the organization become even more nimble, said Patrick Thueson, president of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS).

Called Empower What’s Possible, the campaign is the largest in the history of the nonprofit, Thueson said, and seeks to expand and adapt its offerings moving forward. A new design lab will try out new programs while a “data intelligence function” will collect and analyze data on the effectiveness of its programs.

Thueson said it will allow the nonprofit to make needed changes to its programming as it goes. LSS will also make data on the effectiveness of its programs available to “any entity that wants it,” he said.

Lutheran Social Service has more than 25 different services, including housing, behavioral health, early childhood education, community connections and employment readiness. Nearly $60 million has already been raised, Thueson said.

“We’re listening to the people we serve and support, making sure they’re at the center of all we do,” Thueson said in a Monday interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune. “We try to remove barriers to self-sufficiency and greater resilience.”

Officials on Tuesday kicked off the campaign at a more than 100-year-old building on University Avenue in St. Paul that once housed a Model T dealership. When the renovations are completed in late 2026, the LSS Center for Changing Lives – Frogtown-Rondo will provide comprehensive services for children, youth and families.

The new center, located at 709 University Av., is modeled after LSS facilities in Minneapolis and Duluth. The building, a $7.5 million project, is expected to serve 1,100 people each year.

It will be a microcosm of the kinds of services LSS offers statewide, Thueson said.

Among the “pillars” of its programming, LSS will launch a series of pilot programs across Minnesota with an eye to expanding those that prove effective and modifying those that need adjustment.

Pilot projects include: making behavioral health and well-being services more accessible to young people; a community mentorship program for young people experiencing homelessness; and one focusing on employment and long-term financial stability.

Such efforts are a long way from Lutheran Social Service’s Minnesota beginnings.

Today, it offers services to one in 63 Minnesotans.

According to its website, LSS seeks to foster safe and supportive homes for children, restore health and wellness in families, empower people to live the lives they imagine and promote health and independence for older adults.

Its annual budget of $208 million is funded from public, private and charitable sources. LSS of Minnesota is one of the state’s largest nonprofit social service organizations.

In addition to its work with Minnesotans, LSS has for years helped resettle refugees from other countries. But, in February, LSS announced it was eliminating 27 staff positions, citing the Trump administration’s suspension of refugee admissions and stoppage of federal funds to help new arrivals. LSS worked to place those employees with other programs, Thueson said.