From the Desk of the CEO – June 2024

Greetings to everyone in the LDS Community.  Today I am writing to you after the recent Family Forum.  I send a big thank you to all the families, clients, staff and Board members who attend on a chilly Tuesday night to find out more about LDS and how the organisation is going.

We started the night with two bible readings:

Proverbs 27:17 “People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.”  At LDS we learn from each other – everyday from our clients and staff and also from families and circles of support through your feedback.

1 Peter 4:10-11 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Each and everyday we come to work to serve and to be faithful through our work.

At the forum I provided an update to the Community on how we are tracking.  Key highlights are:

• By the end of June, we will have around 90 clients, including two new Individualised Living Options (ILO) clients. This is a net growth of 5 this year.
• LDS remains profitable with surplus cash being used to purchase a property in Mt Barker and to fund a project with the Langmeil congregation in Tanunda
• Our workforce continues to grow with over 230 staff working at LDS
• Focus remains on quality and safeguarding with our mid-term audit due in February 2025

I spent some time at the forum to explain that outside of our daily work we also engage with the Sector and Church. I meet with our Bishop, Pastor Andrew Brook monthly and attend the quarterly Lutheran District SA Leadership Team meetings. During May I attended the SA District Synod as well as the Lutheran Community & Aged Care network meeting in Brisbane along with our Chair, Kym Wallent.  We are also meeting with the NDIS sector, including attending the Hon. Bill Shorten NDIS Town Hall meetings and forums with the Acting NDIS Quality & Safeguarding Commissioner.  It is important that LDS remains connected to the Church and the sector, is a valued participant and we are involved in decision making.

As we round out the financial year I would like to say thank you to our entire community.  Our clients, staff, families, guardians, circles of support and friends are important to us and our journey to positively impact more South Australian’s living with disability.

God bless, Michael