Careers that change lives: LSS offers work that makes a difference

This paid piece is sponsored by LSS. 

Every quarter, Lutheran Social Services invites its new employees to a virtual meeting.

The digital gathering serves as an overview of the sprawling LSS organization, which touches every corner of South Dakota through its programs and services. It’s also an opportunity for the new hires to share why they joined the team.

At the most recent virtual tag-up, every answer shared a common theme.

“When asked why they joined LSS, every single one of them spoke to the passion and the heart of wanting to make a difference,” said Kathy Diedrich, the nonprofit’s human resources director.

The answers weren’t especially surprising, of course. The more than 400 employees at LSS come to the organization from all walks of life, bringing unique personal and professional experiences, but all share a passion for shaping lives. The LSS vision is that all people in South Dakota will be healthy, safe and accepted. If that vision moves you, there’s a good chance you may be right for LSS. 

As one of the largest nonprofits in South Dakota with a wide array of career paths, there’s a good chance your skills and passions match up with at least a few of the myriad opportunities at LSS. While some positions at LSS require degrees or certifications, many career opportunities do not require higher education. 

LSS has current openings for clinical therapists, residential counselors and workers, social workers, financial counselors and more. New full-time hires are eligible for a $600 bonus after 60 days of employment; part-time hires are eligible for $300. 

The opportunity to meet a community’s need was a big draw for Janet Opoien Twedt of LSS Behavioral Health Services. Opoien Twedt leads the Providing Access to Healing program. PATH is a partnership with the Sioux Empire United Way that brings counselors to help hundreds of students each month.

Opoien Twedt spent decades in counseling before arriving at LSS but knew for many of those years that she wanted to join when the time was right.

“My last unobtained career goal was to work with Lutheran Social Services,” Opoien Twedt said. “Fifteen, 20 years ago I had taken a group therapy course, and we had met at LSS. And I thought, ‘This would be a great place to work.’ So when provided the opportunity to join, it was like enhancing my own career.”

The PATH program has been particularly rewarding for Opoien Twedt. School counselors sometimes struggle to keep up with demand, and PATH fills in the gap. 

“The significance of being able to provide mental health services in the schools normalizes the process for children, that we just become part of their learning experience. We’re all working toward the same outcome, which are happy children who are totally engaged in their learning process,” she said.

The work of improving lives may not always be easy, but a workplace filled with others who aim to help eases the burden. That has been a blessing for Akela Sorensen, a clinical therapist at Summit Oaks Center, which is part of LSS Residential Services for Children and Youth.

“The biggest thing that has kept me at Summit Oaks has been the staff. The camaraderie, the support, the education, that’s what keeps a lot of us here,” Sorensen said. “If I had a really rough night or rough session, it’s not just me. There are so many resources amongst each other.”

It’s that shared sense of passion that makes LSS a rewarding place to work, according to RiAnna Kalovsky, who works with LSS Childcare and Education Services as the Here4Youth program supervisor.

“The work that we do within LSS requires people who are willing to take the time to think through problems, to think outside themselves,” Kalovsky said. “I just think that people at LSS are thoughtful. They care. They take the time to think through problems, they take the time to think about individuals, and they act upon that.”

“Everything I had experienced from my life and from where I’ve worked was really building me up to what I’m doing at Arise,” said David Yendeh, a residential counselor at Arise Youth Center. “The most rewarding part of this job is helping kids to rehabilitate their lives and find their path. Someone helped me that I never knew before. Now, I’m trying to pay this back.”

“I love to help other people,” Yendeh continues. “I know that every time I go to work — every information that I share with them — it changes lives.”

Follow this link to learn more about careers at LSS and making a positive impact in people’s lives.

Core services offered by LSS include adoption, pregnancy counseling, foster care, kinship services, child care and education, disaster response, behavioral health services, reentry services, Center for Financial Resources, residential services for children and  youth, alternatives to detention, independent living services for young adults, mentoring, Better Together, Center for New Americans, Resource Family Services and CARES Wraparound Services.

LSS serves people of all ages, races, faiths and economic levels with professional, confidential and affordable services.

LSS services are licensed by the state of South Dakota and accredited by the Council on Accreditation.

Mentors build friendships, expand horizons