It’s been rough since the inauguration for all of us involved in Christ’s Work of Welcome. The United States refugee resettlement program – which has had strong bipartisan support for years – got confused with the border mess and has been halted indefinitely. With no facts or context, Elon Musk blared that the Lutheran Church and Lutheran ministries like LSC were laundering money, of all things. The Catholic Church, another of the largest social ministry providers, was attacked the week before.
Because of this policy change, on February 11, LSC was forced to lay off 20 valued teammates from the New Americans Program. We have tried to place them in new positions where possible. One affected teammate, Amanda K., shared the following letter with her team in Greenville, South Carolina, as she said goodbye. She gave us permission to share it with you.
The letter is gut-wrenching and sad, but it highlights the very best of The LSC Way. For all of us at LSC, our work is a calling. Please read Amanda’s letter and pray for her, her teammates, the refugees they serve, and our ministry. – Ted W. Goins, Jr., president and chief executive officer
Yesterday was a difficult day – one we saw coming, yet hoped it wouldn’t be here so soon. However, I don’t want to focus on endings but on what we built.
The work we’ve done together is more than just numbers on a report. It’s the families who now have a safe place to call home, the volunteers who showed up and kept showing up and will continue to show up, the clients who can now speak English in grocery stores, in classrooms, and at work. It’s the employers who took a chance and changed lives—both their employees’ and their own. These things don’t disappear just because we do.
To our supervisors—thank you. Even as leadership shifted, even when we faced uncertainty, you showed up for us and for the work. Your guidance, patience, and dedication did not go unnoticed.
For those of you who are staying, I know it feels like you’re on a sinking ship—and the water is coming not only from below but in huge waves from above. I don’t think it will get easier, but I do know: The work still matters. Even when it’s difficult, what you do changes lives, and I hope you hold on to that and keep what’s been started going, to the end.
And to my fellow teammates moving on today—I see you. I know the heartbreak of this moment. But I also know that what we’ve learned here will go with us wherever we land next.
I know I’m not alone in saying that this work has been more than a job—it’s been a calling, and a purpose. And the hardest part about today is losing the chance to do this work side by side with all of you. I will miss the passion, the problem-solving, the announcement of a client’s successful first day at work after a challenging interview, the moments of celebration after an impossible housing placement.
This isn’t just an ending. It’s a legacy. And it’s one I’m proud to have been part of with all of you.