Weekly News from LMM
Save the Date: Annual Charles R. See Forum on Reentry
The 2022 Charles R. See Forum on Reentry will feature Ms. Susan Burton, the founder of Los Angeles-based A New Way of Life (ANWOL). ANWOL works to break the cycle of incarceration by providing housing, case management, employment, legal services, leadership development and community organization on behalf of, and along with people who struggle to rebuild their lives after incarceration. Ms. Burton is an advocate, activist, and author of Becoming Ms. Burton where she shares her own experiences with addiction, incarceration, and trauma. 

The Charles R. See Forum on Reentry, will take place on Friday, April 29, 2022 at 11:30AM at the City Club of Cleveland. The forum honors See’s 44 years at LMM by bringing attention to current issues in the field of criminal justice. Tickets will go on sale soon. The forum will also be broadcast starting at 12:00PM on www.cityclub.org and WKSU 89.7.
Becoming Ms. Burton Book Club
Please join LMM’s Advocacy Department for a series of discussions on the book Becoming Ms. Burton. The memoir, which was authored by the Annual Charles R. See Forum on Reentry's keynote speaker, Ms. Susan Burton, is a story of redemption and overcoming the odds. After the loss of her 5-year old son, addiction took hold of Ms. Burton sending her on a decades-long journey of incarceration and recidivism.

After six separate stints in prison, Ms. Burton found sobriety and started her own nonprofit, A New Way of Life, aimed at helping other women break the cycle of incarceration. Through this work, Ms. Burton also began to advocate to reform the system's failures that led to mass incarceration of African Americans, overcrowding in the state’s prisons, and the inability for those stuck in the cycle to truly get back on their feet.  

LMM's Becoming Ms. Burton Book Club will meet in person and/or virtually on:

  • April 5 at 12:00PM
  • April 26 at 12:00PM
  • May 3 at 12:00PM

You can RSVP here and books can be purchased here (select LMM as your organization of choice using Amazon Smile so our agency receives a small percentage of your purchase at no cost to you) or at a local bookseller.

Questions? Email LMM’s Community Engagement Coordinator, Gloria Craig, at gcraig@lutheranmetro.org.  
Celebrating Women in Leadership
Nicole Braden Lewis
Sue Cyncynatus
Maria Foschia
LMM is proud of the women we have leading our Board of Directors and Senior Leadership Team, including our Board President, Nicole Braden Lewis, our Interim CEO & CFO, Sue Cyncynatus, and our COO, Maria Foschia.

To all of the women in leadership and on staff at LMM, as well as others paving the way in Northeast Ohio: Happy Women's History Month and thank you for inspiring others every day.
Great Food, Better Story: Metro45
Metro45 is a social enterprise of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry that provides life-changing services to those most in need through feeding people experiencing homeless and offering valuable culinary and workforce training to marginalized individuals.

The Metro45 food truck has been setting up shop at different venues around town. Want to have a private event catered or treat your staff to lunch? Contact VP of Workforce Development, Ian Marks, to learn more about how to bring the food truck to a venue near you.

Check out Metro45 on social media or the website for the latest updates.
Action Needed: Guardianship Advocacy
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is set to undertake an extensive nursing home initiative of more than 20 proposed actions, including implementing a minimum staffing requirement, increasing frequency of compliance surveys, and dramatically increasing penalties for deficiencies.

While we support these measures, CMS is not providing any funding or increased reimbursement to help support compliance. This will make it incredibly difficult for nursing homes to comply, and in turn, could lead facilities to close. This would be especially harmful to many of the wards served by Guardianship Services who reside in a nursing home. LMM is opposed to these changes – unless there are increased reimbursement rates - and invites you to express your concern to Congress and CMS administration.
LMM Celebrates Staff
LMM's Senior Leadership Team hosted a Staff Appreciation Event at Lakewood Truck Park earlier this week, which offered a great opportunity for many staff members to see each other outside of virtual meetings! As the first in-person gathering in more than two years, it was a day filled with fellowship, food and raffle prizes.