TAMPA – Lutheran Services Florida is participating in the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service National Conference set for April 12-14 at the Westin Harbour Island in Tampa. The LIRS conference theme is “Healthy Clients, Healthy Resettlement Practices.

LSF President and CEO Sam Sipes will give a welcoming speech Tuesday morning. Among the special guests and speakers will be Linda Hartke, President and CEO of LIRS; Eric P. Schwartz, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration; Eskinder Negash, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement; and Hiram Ruiz, Director of Refugee Services for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Tampa Bay Regional Director Rubis Castro is one of the coordinators for the Health/Mental Health track during the conference. A number of LSF employees will be presenting sessions on Wednesday, including:

- “How to Recognize Signs of Mental Illness and to Assist and Enroll Clients in the Proper Services,” Harriet S. Rayner and Kaffie Wilcoxon, TANF/LEP WorkNet Employment Program;

- “Recognizing and Responding to Mental Health Challenges in Refugee Children and Youth,” Christene Pierce;

- And “Self-Care for the Resettlement Professional,” Rosemarie Connor, Karidad Delgado-Ramis and Francene Brannon.

LSF is also hosting a “Spanish Night in Tampa” for conference participants on Wednesday. The event will feature a deejay, a salsa dance instructor and a cigar roller.

Lutheran Services Florida is a statewide, nonprofit human services agency dedicated to helping all people in need regardless of religious affiliation, age or national origin. Headquartered in Tampa, the agency has more than 60 programs located throughout Florida. Since it was established in 1982, LSF has helped more than 850,000 children and families. LSF’s mission is to bring God’s healing, hope and help to people in need.

LIRS welcomes refugees and migrants on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Founded in 1939, LIRS assists and advocates on behalf of refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, immigrants in detention, families fractured by migration and other vulnerable populations and provides services to migrants through over 60 grassroots legal and social service partners.