Description:
LSS has always been committed to healthy communities and improving the lives of those we serve. We serve individuals who live with serious and persistent mental health challenges, homelessness and/or significant trauma histories.
Trauma trained staff and volunteers empower individuals to take charge of their recovery and provide a safe place to access resources to address critical basic needs. Our center provides on-site direct Mental Health services, facilitates access to psychiatric services, and provides stability so they can become active members of the community. These trauma-informed, recovery-oriented programs promote wellness, encourage self-direction, and foster hope.
LSS Gaining Ground – (Formerly Positive Avenues)
IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO END HOMELESSNESS
Eau Claire/Chippewa Valley has been home to Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan (LSS) for more than 100 years with our daytime resource center – LSS Gaining Ground – serving the community since 1998. LSS Gaining Ground is a free daytime resource center open Monday through Friday to those experiencing mental health concerns or homelessness in Eau Claire, WI. The center’s mission is to provide members with trauma-informed, recovery-oriented services so you can develop social skills and become active members of the community.
For nearly a decade, we have seen the needs of our community grow from 25 people per day to 75-100 per day. When the pandemic hit, we collaborated with Catholic Charities to temporarily move then Positive Avenues, from daytime service hours to a 24/7 shelter. LSS provided crisis services and resources while Catholic Charities managed the shelter side of care. With the increase in this population, we realize that one place or group cannot serve the diverse needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Today, as the country is starting to reopen and more people are vaccinated, LSS is able to return to daytime hours. Yet, our expert staff – joined with voices by our contemporaries from Catholic Charities, human services, Government and other community partners – have all agreed that we need to modify our approach to best serve our Participant’s important needs.
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan (LSS) has a vision for expanded service delivery for people experiencing mental health concerns and homelessness in Eau Claire, WI. We have all learned a lot from our need to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. New and necessary innovations like Telehealth and increased safety measures have allowed us to stay open for service during this unprecedented time. It is clear for LSS that moving forward we must do things differently in order to empower our participants to seek and ultimately realize a life that is truly their own. Resources are limited, preventing good organizations with strong programs from fully realizing their missions of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, loving the lost and lonely, and teaching our neighbors the skills they need to live independently. We imagine what LSS and our community partners will be able to accomplish by pooling our strengths and resources together in collaboration around the goal to encircle our mutual participants with the comprehensive solutions they need to thrive.
AN IMPROVED DAYTIME MODEL
Multiple community partners are co-creating to redevelop the day services to a well-coordinated system of support that wholly addresses the needs of people including and beyond homelessness. This new approach to service delivery meets the social, emotional, and economic needs that lead to self-sufficiency. Starting April 1, 2021, LSS began offering these services at the existing Sojourner House facility located at 618 S. Barstow St..
Off the Square Club
Daytime Support in Madison
We offer the Off the Square Club to serve the community as a daytime resource center in Madison, Wisconsin. The center welcomes anyone living with a mental illness – whether you’re homeless or have a residence.
Off the Square Club provides a safe and supportive place where you are empowered to take charge of your own recovery, develop positive social connections and become an active member of the community.
You’ll discover that members turn to Off the Square Club for many reasons and with diverse situations and backgrounds. As a member, you may choose your level of support, whether you come in daily, weekly or once a year. Some people find basics like a warm place to rest in the winter, while others seek more intense support including crisis intervention and peer support.