Concordia Community Support Services

Concordia Care Network dba Concordia Community Support Services (CCSS) consults the leadership and operations of the following home and community based 501(c)(3) non-profit entities: Concordia Visiting Nurses; Alliance Visiting Nurses, dba, VNA Alliance; Good Samaritan Hospice of Pittsburgh; Concordia Hospice of Washington, Concordia Private Care, Concordia Medical Equipment, Visiting Nurse Association of Indiana County dba Concordia-IRMC VNA and Bethlen Home of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America dba Concordia Home Health and Hospice of Bethlen. During the fiscal year, approximately 21,632 patients were served across 15 counties in home health, hospice and private duty services. In addition, Concordia Medical Equipment supports approximately 6,279 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. 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. Community education was provided by our marketing and nurse liaison teams who led 6 community health program sessions during the fiscal year. Topics included How To Navigate Through the Healthcare System, Essentials for Independent Living, Medication Mgmt, Winter Safety, and Estate Planning. At least 40 hours were spent presenting these free sessions to the community. Many of our CCSS employees and members of management serve annually at Concordia Summer Festival (July 2023) and Concordia Octoberfest (October 2023). 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. 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 $6,240. These are the Mission Events that were organized for employees of the Home and Community Based organizations to participate in during the fiscal year: Drive-Up Food Distributions: July-Aug 2023: Employees volunteered to assist the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Knoch School District (Saxonburg, PA) with a drive-thru food distribution which addresses family food insecurity during summer months when children lose access to school provided meals. Remote Area Medical (RAM): Nov 2023: 443 Concordia employees and community members volunteered their time and talents over three days to host a free medical, dental and vision clinic in Butler County to provide healthcare to underserved and underinsured community members. 335 patients were served and a total of $183,534 of healthcare was provided at no cost. The event was supported by 54 community businesses with 38 optometrists, NPs, dentists, and physicians providing care. Childrens Winter Coat Drive: Nov 2023: 8 coats and 8 hat-and-glove sets were purchased by Concordia-IRMC VNA and its employees and donated to the Salvation Army of Indiana County. Lighthouse Foundation Food Pantry Collection Drive: Nov-Dec 2023: 393 food items were purchased by Concordia employees and matched by a monetary gift by Concordia for donation to The Lighthouse Foundation (Butler, PA) to stock their shelves with the top 10 needed items before Christmas. Center for Community Resources Bundle-Up Butler Coat Drive: Nov-Dec 2023: 157 gently-used or new coats were donated by Concordia employees and matched by a monetary gift by Concordia. Hero's Angels Collection Drive: Feb-Mar 2024: Highly requested items were purchased and donated to deployed troops in Syria in partnership with Hero's Angels (Chicora, PA). Blessing Blankets: Mar 2024: Concordia employees and residents teamed together to create 233 blankets for donation to 13 community service organizations in PA and OH. City Mission Service Event: Mar 2024: 12 volunteers served at community meal. St Luke Feed My Starving Children MobilePack Event: May 2024: 40 Concordia employees, residents & their families volunteered at a multi-day event to pack meals to address the global hunger crisis. Lighthouse Foundation Food Pantry Distribution and Pantry Clean-Up: June 2024: Employee volunteers distributed food items to the families who utilize the pantry-approx 30 volunteer hours; and Employee volunteers cleaned The Lighthouse food pantry to ready it for the next distribution-approx 12 volunteer hours. Total cost to the agency for sponsorships for fiscal year ended 6/30/2024 equated $9,107. The following local organizations have received direct financial support from CCSS through sponsorships of events: Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, American Cancer Society-Relay for Life Armstrong County, BC3 Education Foundation, Inc, Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Co, Butler Catholic School, Butler Co Chamber of Commerce, Butler Collaborative for Families, Butler County Family YMCA, Butler County Soccer Association, Butler Football Boosters, Butler Freeport Comm Trail Council, Butler High Girls Golf Team, Butler Inline Hockey, Butler Township Baseball Association, Center Township Athletic Association, Children's Advocacy Center of Butler County, Christ Lutheran Church-Pittsburgh, Community Health Center, CrossFit Recreate, Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation, Inc, Harvest Baptist Academy, Kids Day America, Knoch Softball Boosters, Law Enforcement Services (Butler Co Sheriffs Office Calendar), Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship, Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company, Pittsburgh Area Lutheran Ministries, Redeemer Lutheran School, SABA-Saxonburg Area Baseball Association, Saxonburg Area Girls Softball Assoc, Saxonburg Area Rotary Club, Saxonburg Vol Fire Co, Senior Olympics of Western PA, Sing Hosanna, Sprankle Event LLC, and St Mark's Lutheran Church. Total cost to the agency for donations made during the fiscal year ended 6/30/2024 equated $15,505,676. Two scholarships of $2,500 each were awarded to children of Concordia Employees. Donations totaling $330 were given to these three 501(c)(3) organizations: Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Co, St Gregory Catholic Church, and First United Methodist Church 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. Blankets were purchased for $346 for the Blessing Blankets Mission Event that CCSS participated in. Concordia Lutheran Ministries Parent was supported with a total of $12,159,000, Concordia Lutheran Ministries Foundation was supported with a total of $1,990,000, and Concordia Charity Care Fund was supported with a total of $1,351,000. These donations, sponsorships and mission events are some of the ways we serve God by providing for the needs of His people.