Welcome to Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area's (LSSNCA) newsroom. LSSNCA, a human services and immigration relief and refugee welcome agency throughout Maryland, Virginia, and the Washington D.C. metro area serves those on their immigration journey. Read how we're working together to amplify voices of refugees and asylum-seekers, create loving and responsible foster homes for unaccompanied children and refugee minors, advocate for new neighbors, and work torward creating a more just, welcoming, and thriving community.
For press inquiries, please email media@lssnca.org.
When the teenager fled Afghanistan and arrived in the U.S., he was alone. He has since seen a community come together to help him and his four brothers. ... How the five brothers, who range in age from 8 to 21, all ended up living in Loudoun County is a story that starts with them getting separated at an airport in Afghanistan. Their family was one of the many that crowded the grounds around the international airport in Kabul in 2021 in hopes of evacuating as the United States withdrew its troops.
Photo credit: Theresa Vargas/The Washington Post
“We began interviewing refugee doctors in late 2022, learning about their passion for medicine and some of the barriers they face in returning to medical practice,” said Brandi Kilmer, Co-Founder of the Refugee Physicians Advocacy (RPA) Coalition and Community Programs Coordinator - Washington D.C. at TSOS. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to be part of a growing coalition of partners working to remove those barriers. We thank chief-patron Delegate Kathy Tran and our partners at Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area, World Education Services, and NOVA Friends of Refugees for their leadership, and all those who endorsed helping to remove a significant barrier with this bill. It has restored hope to many doctors in our network.”
LSSNCA joined more than 250 faith-based organizations and faith leaders to call for immediate humanitarian actions for Haiti. We called on the administration to: redesignate and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Special Student Relief, pause all deportations, and expand key lawful migration pathways. We also urged the administration to halt any plans to detain Haitian migrants at Guantanamo Bay.
LSSNCA joined African Communities Together, ECDC, and more than 100 other organizations to request an immediate extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia in response to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in the country.
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) extends our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the six workers presumed dead after the tragic Francis Scott Key Bridge accident in Baltimore.
LSSNCA joined the Haitian Bridge Alliance, immigration, human rights, faith-based, and civil rights organizations in requesting an extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and a moratorium on deportations to Haiti.
The Stateless Protection Act, a bicameral legislation establishing a new protected status, permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship for stateless individuals residing in the United States was reintroduced by Rep. Raskin (D-Md.-8), Sen. Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Padilla (D-Calif.), and Rep. Connolly (D-Va.-11).
Our Transitional Foster Care (TFC) program offers crucial support during the transition to a stable, loving home for children who arrive in the United States without parents or guardians. The Baltimore area is in desperate need of foster families.
LSSNCA joined 194 organizations-–which include medical, academic, human rights, immigration, civil
rights, and faith groups— in an urgent call to action: DHS must end the practice of solitary confinement in all immigration detention centers.
LSSNCA joined other state and national organizations in asking Congress to support H.R. 7010, the Increasing Access to Foster Care through 21 Act. Several states currently extend foster care beyond age 18, and this legislation would expand upon that to ensure that all young people in foster care have the option to remain in care through age 21, regardless of where they live. This extension has shown to produce improved outcomes across different benchmarks like higher rates of school graduation, employment, and better access to housing and health care.
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) urges Congress to pass the recently introduced Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023 (H.R. 5856). We invite you to join us in advocating for the passage of H.R. 5856 by reaching out to your local representative. By passing this legislation, we can send a powerful message that the United States is committed to combating human trafficking, supporting survivors, and creating a safer and more just society.
LSSNCA was hopeful to see a bipartisan border bill finally presented - recognizing that the modernization of our immigration system is long overdue. LSSNCA supports the United States’ right to increase security measures at the border, yet, not at the expense of vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution.
LSSNCA calls upon lawmakers to prioritize a humane and just immigration system that respects the rights and dignity of those seeking refuge on U.S. shores and prioritizes meaningful access and pathways to those seeking safety. We urge them to reject any deal that compromises these principles and instead work towards comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the values upon which our nation was built.
House Bill995 creates a pathway for qualified doctors licensed overseas to fill workforce gaps in medically underserved communities. These gaps existed before and were exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Foreign trained doctors, also known as International Medical Graduates (IMGs) are a ready and untapped workforce with medical and language skills and cultural sensitivities needed to serve communities throughout the Commonwealth. Now is the time and HB995 is the legislation that will allow these talented professionals to provide high quality support to patients, especially in underserved communities, and improve access to needed medical care.
If you need a last-minute holiday gift this weekend and through the end of the year, you have lots of options along the Route 1 corridor that don’t involve online rush ordering, circling parking lots, or standing in long lines. Even better, you can support the local artists, craftsmen, and other small business owners that put this area on the map. ... Donate to help support the following local nonprofits doing notable work for the community in the area and beyond.
