LFCS WINGS program receives $30,000 grant

Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Children's Trust Fund, Missouri's foundation for child abuse prevention. Funds will support the work of Women in Need Growing Stronger, or WINGS, a program for pregnant and newly parenting families that encourages healthy and safe relationships as a way to prevent child abuse and neglect.

The WINGS program connects pregnant women with basic needs such as medical care, housing resources, food assistance and any other services that will help them attain and maintain a more stable and safe environment.

Jan Scheurer, statewide director of child welfare, said, "The WINGS program helps women to address stresses that can lead to child abuse and neglect, such as abusive peer relationships, low self-esteem, economic hardship, mental illness and lack of family support."

For more information, visit www.lfcsmo.org.

As a recipient of the Children's Trust Fund grant, LFCS will promote the Children's Trust Fund license plate, which provides revenue for child abuse prevention programs. The fund's license plates feature the distinctive green child handprint logo and a "prevent child abuse" message. Anyone interested in the plates may visit www.ctf4kids.org. The Children's Trust Fund is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

The Southeast Missouri office of LFCS provides senior counseling, adoption, crisis pregnancy assistance, parenting classes, an Alzheimer's support group, an abstinence-only education program and youth mentoring services to Southeast Missouri.

LFCS of Missouri is a not-for-profit, statewide social service organization providing counseling, adoption, crisis pregnancy assistance, child care and mentoring services to the community. With offices in St. Louis, Columbia, Cape Girardeau and Springfield, LFCS touches the lives of more than 22,000 individuals annually. The services provided by LFCS are open to everyone regardless of race, faith, national origin, gender or age. Although Lutheran-based, more than 80 percent of families served are non-Lutheran.