St. Paul-based Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, among the largest human service organizations in Minnesota, announced promotions for three organizational leaders to new executive positions: Joe Khawaja, Alexis Oberdorfer and Janine Fugate.

Legislation called the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act is being considered and would ban medical providers from denying non-emergency care to patients with large overdue bills, lower the interest rate on medical debt to zero, and keep medical debt from showing up on credit reports. Listen to a rebroadcast from 2022 as MPR News host Angela Davis talks about medical debt with experts including Kim Miller with LSS Financial Counseling.

Gary and Peg Janisch of Delano got their first glimpse of Camp Knutson last year at the camp’s annual Pancake Breakfast on the Saturday before 
Labor Day. The couple, who have a lake home near the camp, were immediately drawn to camp’s mission of serving individuals with identified needs and recently announced a $200,000 gift to Camp Knutson. 

Kate Hengy-Gretz with the LSS Crisis Nursery in Mankato appeared on Radio Mankato to talk about the work of the Crisis Nursery and how the community can help.

Shannon Doyle with LSS Financial Counseling appeared on MPR News with Angela Davis with Chris Farrell, nationally-acclaimed personal finance expert and MPR Senior economics contributor, to talk about emotional spending: why we do it and how to take control of it. Check it out!

The Greater Pine Island Alliance, a nonprofit organization focused on Hurricane Ian recovery efforts, hosted a free spring break camp in March designed to support elementary school-aged children from Greater Pine Island and Matlacha who have been affected by disaster.  

Charlie Korinta, a life-long resident of Detroit Lakes, is going on 27 years as a Senior Companion volunteer through Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS), serving as a friendly visitor to older adults in the community to help them remain healthy and living independently. 

He’s met extraordinary people along the way who have shared remarkable life stories about their childhood, military service, careers as artists, and other fascinating work histories. 

About half of all credit card users are not sure what the interest rates are on their credit cards, according to CreditCards.com. Shannon Doyle, financial educator with LSS Financial Counseling, shared that the Annual Percentage Rate on your credit card is an important number to know because it can significantly impact your financial wellbeing, especially over time. She appeared on WATW Radio in Ashland, Wisconsin to inform listeners on strategies to avoid the high cost of credit. 

In the February 23 Star Tribune online story on increasing consumer debt, Dan Park with LSS Financial Counseling said that fewer people were making appointments for financial counseling during the pandemic due to the pause in federal student loan payments, banks implementing temporary forbearance plans and stimulus checks. Now that those programs have ended, LSS financial counselors are busy.