Concordia Community Support Services

Concordia Care Network dba Concordia Community Support Services (CCSS) manages the leadership and operations of Concordia Visiting Nurses; Alliance Visiting Nurses, dba, VNA Alliance; Good Samaritan Hospice of Pittsburgh; Concordia Hospice of Washington, Concordia Private Care, Concordia Medical Equipment, and Concordia IRMC-VNA dba VNA of Indiana County. During fiscal year ending 6/30/2023 Concordia Care Network acquired sole membership in Bethlen Home of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America dba Concordia at Bethlen. CCSS began management of a home health and hospice license at Bethlen on April 3, 2023. All of these entities are 501(c)(3) non-profit entities. During the fiscal year, approximately 22,312 patients were served across 15 counties in home health, hospice and private duty services. In addition, Concordia Medical Equipment supports approximately 6,244 new patients that Concordia Lutheran Ministries serves over 11 campuses in Pennsylvania by providing durable medical equipment and supplies. From nursing and therapy services to specialized services such as IV Therapy, wound care, palliative care and mental health care, our visiting nurses' teams ensure that patients are provided care in the comfort of their own home with the goal of preventing rehospitalization and monitoring chronic disease states. Our hospice team provides comfort care to improve the overall quality of life of patients who are on their end-of-life journey. Our medical equipment agency is dedicated to enhancing home safety by providing a wide selection of durable medical equipment and related home medical equipment and supplies such as home accessibility products, mobility aids, and respiratory products and services. Families of our patients play a vital role so we educate and support them through situations related to caring for a loved one who is aging, all the way through their end-of-life. Bereavement care is also provided to families of hospice patients for at least a year beyond the patient's death. Employees are offered training and opportunities to obtain new skills such as Wound Care Certification, Palliative Care Training, IV Therapy Certification, Lymphedema Therapy Certification, Home Health and Hospice Coding Certification, and Hospice Boot Camp Training. Concordia awarded $84,000 in scholarships and stipends. These funds went to 20 student employees and 21 children of employees from 10 different service locations throughout Concordia. During calendar year 2022, the Concordia PR department has continued participating in monthly educational radio talk shows which are broadcast in Butler County, PA on WISR. The goal of these radio shows is to educate family caregivers, whether they are a senior caring for a spouse or adult children caring for an older adult. Shows often talk about caregiving tips and the listener is directed to the services offered by CCSS companies so they can make informed decisions on care. Our educational website has information on the aging process, documents to have in order, the physical and emotional toll caregiving can have on a person, how to maintain independence, how to treat/assist with common diseases like CHF, COPD, Dementia and Diabetes, dealing with difficult symptoms, addressing certain medical concerns and the emotional/spiritual issues that can arise in a person living with a serious illness. Many of our CCSS employees and members of management serve annually at Concordia Summer Festival (July 2022) and Concordia Octoberfest (October 2022). Both events are sponsored by Concordia Lutheran Health and Human Care and are open to the public as a way of providing entertainment, food and refreshments and a feeling of community. A Mission Committee was formed by CCSS in 2018 to organize opportunities for employees to serve the community. During FY 2022-2023, the Mission Committee was expanded to include all Concordia locations and facilities. The committee organizes events - some are specific to a local need and some are across all Concordia locations. The approximate cost to CCSS for the time invested by CCSS employees in the meetings to organize the events is $7,700. The Mission Events that were organized by the Committee during the fiscal year are: Backpack Blessings: Aug-Sept 2022: Concordia Employees in PA and FL locations donated a total of 274 backpacks filled with school supplies for unhoused and underserved children ages 5-12 in partnership with Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV. St. Luke Lutheran Church House Build & Servant Day: Sept 2022: Employees donated approx 80 volunteer hours to build frames of a home to be donated to family in need, and perform various other activities for items that will be donated to communities and groups in need. Angel Tree: Dec 2022: Employees purchased and wrapped Christmas Gifts for children who are experiencing homelessness in partnership with PA Education for Children & Youth Experiencing Homelessness-28 children were sponsored by employees at 15 different Concordia locations. Family Promise Collection Drive: Feb-Mar 2023: Collection drive to stock Family Promise's Beyond Shelter Store for unhoused families in Indiana County, PA with necessary paper and hygiene products. Bed Build & Bedding Drive Mission: Feb 2023: Employee volunteers donated approx 70 volunteer hours to build bed frames to be distributed to families in need in Butler and Beaver counties; Concordia at Villa St. Joseph also hosted a bedding drive prior to the bed build. Lighthouse Foundation Food Pantry Distribution and Pantry Clean-Up: April 2023: Employee volunteers distributed food items to the families who utilize the pantry-approx 42 volunteer hours; and Employee volunteers cleaned The Lighthouse food pantry to ready it for the next distribution-approx 16 volunteer hours. Lighthouse Foundation Can Opener Collection Drive: April 2023: Collection drive to provide manual can openers to the Lighthouse food pantry-approx. 20 can openers were purchased by Concordia employees and donated to The Lighthouse Foundation. VOICe Bedding Collection Drive: April 2023: Collection drive to provide bed linens and mattresses for VOICe's emergency shelter. VOICe provides free services and emergency shelter to surviors of violent crimes including domestic violence, sexual assualt, elder abuse and human trafficking-Concordia donated 30 new twin mattresses-Employees donated four large bags full of bedding. Pine Valley Camp Scholarship Program: June 2023: Various employee-led fundraising events at Concordia at Villa St. Joseph to raise money for team members interested in sending their children to a Christian summer camp-included monetary matching donation by Concordia. Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Knoch School District (Saxonburg, Pa.) Drive-up Food Distribution: June 2023: Employee volunteers assisted with drive-thru food distribution which addresses family food insecurity during summer months when children lose access to school provided meals. Total cost to the agency for sponsorships for fiscal year ended 6/30/2023 equated $14,786. The following local organizations have received direct financial support from CCSS through sponsorships of events: BC3 Education Foundation, Inc., Butler Catholic School, Butler County Soccer Association, Butler County Symphony Association, Butler Football Boosters, Butler Health System Foundation, Christ Lutheran Church-Pittsburgh, Community Health Center, Concordia Lutheran Ministries Foundation, Concordia-IRMC VNA, Center Township Athletic Association, Greensburg Central Catholic, Healing Hunger Beaver County, IRMC Healthcare Foundation, Pittsburgh Area Lutheran Ministries, Redeemer Lutheran School - Idaho Ave, PA, SABA-Saxonburg Area Baseball Association, Saxonburg Fine Art, Saxonburg Spartans, St Mark's Lutheran Church, Saxonburg Arts Festival, and Concordia Hospice of Washington. Total cost to the agency for donations made during the fiscal year ended 6/30/2023 equated $10,513,167. This includes cash donations to various other 501(c)(3) organizations including: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: $500, and St Luke Lutheran Church: House Build Mission Event and the National Youth Gathering trip, $4,247. A scholarship was awarded to a child of a Concordia Employee so $5,000 was paid toward a student account at University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. $120 total donations were given to these four 501(c)(3) organizations: American Diabetes Association, Good Samaritan Hospice, Slippery Rock Fire & Rescue Squad, and St Wendelin Catholic School as part of our Employee Benefit Fund program in which donations are given to a charity of employee's choice when a qualifying event occurs, such as a death in the family. Good Samaritan Endowment Fund was supported with a total of $1,050,000, Concordia Lutheran Ministries Parent was supported with a total of $9,450,000 and Concordia Tele-CareGivers dba Concordia Private Care was supported with a total of $3,300.