FY 2024-2025 Annual Report

2025 At A Glance

Each day at LFSRM we strive to provide support to families throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Our work continues to grow as we continuely look for new resources and services to help strengthen our communities.

5,973 Refugees & Asylee Clients Served

140 Children/Youth in Foster Care Served - 24,820 Nights of Care

78 URM Children Youth in Foster Care served - 23,680 Nights of Care

73 Older Adult Wards with LFSRM Guardianship

20 Adoptive Placements

67 Birth Parents Receiving Pregnancy Options counseling

6,821 Children and 366 Families served through Family Support & Education

1,465 filings completed through Immigration Legal Services

Where We Serve

Services Provided by Location

Albuquerque
Refugee & Asylee
Immigration Legal Services

Billings
Refugee & Asylee

Colorado Springs
Adoption
Foster Care
KPC Family Resource Center
SafeCare Parent Support
Pregnancy Options Colorado
Refugee & Asylee

Denver
Adoption
Foster Care
Immigration Legal Services
Older Adult
Pregnancy Options Colorado
Refugee & Asylee

Fort Collins
Adoption
Foster Care
Parenting Education
Pregnancy Options Colorado

Greeley/Evans
Parenting Education
Refugee & Asylee
SafeTouch
Supervised Family Time & Safe Exchange

Las Cruces
Refugee & Asylee
Immigration Legal Services

Salt Lake City
Immigration Legal Services

ADOPTION & PREGNANCY OPTIONS COUNSELING

Since 1948 we have helped to build families through infant, designated, and international adoption by providing support, education, and counseling to parents. We help to build families through infant, designated, and international adoption by providing support, education, and counseling. As a full service Colorado adoption agency, our adoption and pregnancy counselors work closely with clients as they consider and prepare for adoptive parenthood.

INTERSTATE COMPACT (ICPC) REVIEWS
LFSRM is contracted by the State of Colorado to review all Interstate Compacts for the Placement of Children related to adoptive placements entering Colorado. During Fiscal Year 2025 the program reviewed 130 ICPC placement packets to ensure the safely of children and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Foster Care

Each year in Colorado, thousands of children are unable to live with their biological parents because of abuse or neglect. At LFSRM, we believe there is no such thing as “other people’s kids.” Through our Foster Care Program, we provide skilled, caring substitute families for children unable to live with their birth families.

We work diligently with our families to support them through the foster process and beyond. Foster parents receive training to gain skills on how to responsively support these youth. A case manager is assigned to each family to provide specialized support that helps families navigate the lives of these children.

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URM Foster Care

Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) are children under the age of 18 who have been resettled in the United States without a parent or relative to care for them. LFSRM’s URM Foster Care program provides care and specialized assistance for children who were forced to flee their country of origin due to war, persecution, or unrest, and whose parents and adult caregivers are deceased or unable to be located. LFSRM trains and supports culturally and linguistically appropriate homes, supports a network of other sub-contracted placement providers, and provides Supervised Independent Living services for URM youth in the program.

REFUGEE & ASYLEE

Since 1975 LFSRM Refugee & Asylee Programs have helped people who have been uprooted by persecution and violence work towards self-sufficiency through essential resettlement services, including: housing, employment, English language, and cultural orientation. Some locations have other grant-funded programs.

Program Highlight: Refugee Youth Mentor Program
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Microenterprise Development (MED)

Our MED program provides training, technical assistance, and loans for Refugees and Asylees to start, maintain, and expand small businesses. The program helps to create refugee owned small businesses, generate jobs, increase incomes, and contribute to the local economy. Programs operated in Albuquerque and Colorado Springs issuing 10 credit building loans and 18 small business loans.

Immigration Legal Services

Immigration Legal Services (ILS) provides consultation and assistance to newcomers, who are lawfully present, seeking immigration relief through Adjustment of Status to Lawful Permanent Residency, Employment Authorization, Naturalization/Citizenship applications, and assistance with renewals and replacement documents. The program also provides assistance with relative petitions, consular processing, refugee travel documents, and waiver requests.

The Safe Release Support program also provided fingerprinting for 55 individuals in Denver, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Salt Lake City in order to support family reunification.

Research shows newcomers with representation fare better at every stage of the immigration process.

Family Support and Education

Every family has strengths and every family can use support. We believe that every child deserves to grow up in a safe, nurturing environment. Through these programs families gain skills to provide a safe home.

FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS

KPC Family Resource Center: Offers temporary crisis and planned childcare for infants and young children in Colorado Springs providing relief and support to parents and guardians.

Supervised Family Time & Safe Exchange: Provides a comfortable, nurturing environment for families and children to have supervised family time, monitored family time, and safe exchanges in Northern Colorado.

PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS

SafeCare Colorado: Offers in-home, voluntary services that support families in Colorado Springs in gaining skills to provide a safe home, address child health needs, and engage in positive interactions with their children under 5 years.

Parenting Education: Provides a number of different classes in Northern Colorado to teach parents and provide support as they learn parenting skills.

Program Highlight: SafeCare
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CHILD/YOUTH EDUCATION & EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS

SafeTouch Child Safety Class: This class concentrates on how children and adolescents can protect themselves from any type of abusive or unwanted touch.

OLDER ADULT PROGRAM

Our Older Adult Program serves unbefriended individuals and the facilities that care for them. Unbefriended individuals are those who have no written outline of their care preference and no identified family or friends to assist in medical decision-making when needed.

Our team assists hospital and nursing home administration by collaboratively working with staff in order to prepare to petition the court to establish guardianship allowing LFSRM to move patients to an appropriate care setting, and to provide support to address social determinants of health.

Disaster Relief

Our Disaster Relief program provides disaster case management to assist households impacted by natural or manmade disaster with their recover process. The program assists clients with meeting immediate needs related housing, food, clothing instability, and partners with other community organizations to connect clients with tangible resources as well as emotional and spiritual care.

In FY24-25, the program assisted a small number of households impacted by the Alexander Mountain Fire which occured in July 2024 just west of Loveland, CO.

Congregation Partner of the Year 2025

Calgary Englewood Church
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Community Partners of the Year 2025

Clothes to Kids - Denver
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The Exchange Club of Falcon - Falcon
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Engaging Our Communities

We are grateful for the willingness of our volunteers to give of their time, energy, and talents. Their support allows us to continue fulfilling our mission and serve thousands of people through the Rocky Mountain region each year.

2025 Volunteers of the Year - Colorado Springs | Betsy and Tim Powell

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Program Area	Number of Volunteers	Volunteer Hours	Value*
Foster Care	8	17	$591
Prevention Services	26	1,147	$39,904
Refugee & Asylee Program Billings	85	1,257	$43,731
Refugee & Asylee Program Colorado Springs	97	2,957	$102,874
Refugee & Asylee Program Denver	145	6,465	$224,917
Refugee & Asylee Program Greeley	20	793	$27,589
Refugee & Asylee Program Albuquerque & Las Cruces	24	310	$10,785
Special Events	5	12	$418
Board & Trustees Members	18	354	$12,316
Total Value of Volunteers	428	13,312	$463,125

In 2025, the value of one hour of volunteer time = $34.79, per Independent Sector
*Figure rounded to the nearest dollar

Financial information

Fiscal Year 2024-2025
(July 1, 2024 -June 30, 2025)

Board of Directors

Mr. Tom Brook
Contractual Fractional Services Management
Denver Metro Colorado

Mr. Tino Cruz
Health Care Services Director
Denver Metro Colorado

Mr. Joe DesJardin
Civil Engineer
Southern Colorado

Pastor Nicolé Ferry
Senior Pastor
New Mexico

Ms. Amy Johnson
Project Manager/Engineer
Northern Colorado

Ms. Lori Ann Fujioka Knutson
First Assistant Attorney General, Contracts and Procurement Unit
Denver Metro Colorado

Pastor Julie McNitt
Lead Servant for Spiritual Life
Denver Metro Colorado

Ms. Mary Jo Michels
Social Worker (Retired)
Montana

Ms. Margarita Reyes
Lay Leader
Denver Metro Colorado

Mr. Jeff Solomonson
Financial Consultant
Northern Colorado

Mr. Eric Stolp
Financial Consultant
Southern Colorado

Ms. Marjorie (Margie) Versen,
Chief Financial Officer
Denver Metro Colorado

Mr. Frank Virginia
Director of Technical Services
Denver Metro Colorado

Ms. Nga Vuong-Sandoval
U.S. Refugee Advisory Board Project Manager
Denver Metro Colorado

Mr. Peter Whitmore
Attorney
Denver Metro Colorado

Ex-Officio
The Rev. Dr. Meghan Johnston Aelabouni
Bishop, Rocky Mt. Synod, ELCA

Mr. James Horan
President & CEO, Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains

Board of Trustrees

Dr. William (Bill) Ayen
Instructor (Retired)
Southern Colorado

Mr. Greg Bickle
Financial Representative
Denver Metro Colorado