Founded: Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries
was founded Jan. 1, 2000, by the affiliation and later merger of Lutheran Services
Northeast and Tressler Lutheran Services, both of which date to the
1800s. Diakon is a private, non-profit charitable organization of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is recognized by the
Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) corporation.
Mission: In response to God's love in
Jesus Christ, Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries will demonstrate God's
command to love the neighbor through acts of service.
History: The Tressler Orphans Home was
created to serve children orphaned during the Civil War, and was purchased
by the Lutheran church in 1868. As society changed and orphanage
populations began to decline, Tressler began working with children
and families in their homes. The orphanage buildings and grounds were
sold to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1963. A few years later,
Tressler began working cooperatively with a sister Lutheran agency
that had been serving older persons in central Pennsylvania since
1950, broadening Tressler’s focus to include all stages of life. In
central Maryland, Tressler continued service begun in 1913 by the Lutheran Inner Mission Society
of Baltimore & Vicinity, Lutheran Social Services of Maryland having become part of Tressler Lutheran Services in 1994.
Lutheran Services Northeast was formed in 1997 through the affiliation
of The Lutheran Home at Topton, Pa., and Lutheran Welfare Service
of Northeastern Pennsylvania, based in Hazleton, Pa. Founded in 1896,
The Lutheran Home at Topton began as The Lutheran Orphans Home, a
ministry established to answer the need for accommodations to house and care for orphaned children. Like the Tressler facility, the children’s home later
began reaching out to other segments of society, with a building on
the campus renovated in the early 1940s to accommodate older
adults. Lutheran Welfare Service began in 1956 when representatives
from 36 Northeastern Pennsylvania congregations met to establish a senior care facility. Over the next several decades, additional senior
and community services were developed, including one of the first hospices in the state.
Today: Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries
offers a range of services designed to help children,
youths, adults, families, older persons, congregations,
and community groups. Diakon services annually touch the lives of between 50,000 and 70,000 persons in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. The organization is affiliated
with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through Lutheran Services
in America, with participating synods being Delaware-Maryland, Lower
Susquehanna, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Southeastern Pennsylvania,
and Upper Susquehanna. Through a cooperative agreement, Diakon also
serves within the Allegheny Synod. Diakon’s services are available
to people regardless of race, color, religion, creed, disability,
sex, ancestry, national origin, age, or sexual orientation, in compliance
with all local, state, and federal laws. In 2006, uncompensated care provided by Diakon services amounted to more than $12 million.
Services:
Diakon Senior Living Services . . .
- Continuing Care Retirement Communities
- Residential living accommodations
- Assisted living services
- Memory-enhancement SpecialCare for those with Alzheimer’s disease and similar illnesses
- Short- and long-term nursing and rehabilitative care
- Outpatient rehabilitation services
Diakon Family & Community Ministries . . .
- Adoption and foster care services for waiting children
- Adult day services
- Children’s day care, before- and after-school programs, and summer programs
- Children’s bereavement services
- Community-based services, including senior centers, meals on
wheels, transportation and snow-removal assistance, Senior Corps RSVP, and health-care resource
information and referral.
- Congregational ministries including volunteer home care, congregational health ministries/parish nursing, and social-ministry consultation
- Crisis-intervention and intensive-treatment services for at-risk
adolescents and their families
- Diakon Family Life Services including family, marriage, individual,
and group counseling; certified drug and alcohol treatment; addictions
intervention; domestic violence treatment; marriage-preparation
programs; pastoral care teams; custom-designed programs; professional
consultation; employee assistance programs; and The Genesis Institute
for Christian Education continuing-educational services for church professionals
- Diakon Help at Home home-care services
- Hospice care and home health care for chronic conditions
- Pregnancy services
- Residential, home-based, aftercare, and wilderness-based services, including Diakon Wilderness Center’s Foundations Residential Program, Wilderness Challenge Course, and intensive
weekend services, for at-risk (adjudicated delinquent and dependent) youths
- Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption & Permanency Network (SWAN) administration
Staff & Volunteers: Diakon Lutheran Social
Ministries employs more than 2,300 persons working at 50 locations
in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. Each year, about 6,000 volunteers
contribute more than 200,000 hours of service to help agency clients
and residents.
Administration: Diakon is governed by a board of directors, with a majority of its members elected by the bishops of the five supporting synods. A separate board, the Diakon Lutheran Fund Board of Directors,
oversees organizational investments, whose income supports a range of services.
Primary Locations:
Diakon Family & Community Ministries:
Allentown, Boiling Springs, Carlisle, Downingtown, DuBois, Duncannon,
Harrisburg, Hazleton, Honesdale, Lewisburg, Lewistown, Mahanoy City,
Mechanicsburg, Minersville, New Bloomfield, New Cumberland, Newville,
Pottstown, Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah,
Topton, Tremont, Williamsport, Wyomissing, and York,
Pa.; Baltimore, Hagerstown, and Oakland, Md.; and Newport, Del.
Diakon Senior Living Services (list includes rental-assistance housing): Allentown, Carlisle,
East Stroudsburg, Holland, Lewisburg, Lewistown, Middletown, Pottstown,
Scranton, and Topton, Pa.; and Frostburg and Hagerstown, Md.
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