With the help of Jean Cunningham from Lutheran Social Services of New England's SmartCare program, Jane Winslow, continues to live independently in her Concord, N.H., home. LSSNE was one of 19 recipients to receive a total of $250,000 in domestic grants from LCMS World Releif and Human Care.

For many years, Jane Winslow of Concord, N.H., served as a school nurse. Now retired and struggling with rheumatoid arthritis, Winslow grapples with daily tasks such as opening jars. She must use a walker. Thankfully, Winslow discovered Lutheran Social Services of New England's (LSSNE) SmartCare program, which provides at-home support to elderly, frail, or disabled people regardless of their economic situation and enables them to remain in their homes and connected to their communities and churches.

By the end of 2008, LSSNE SmartCare was providing over 28,000 hours of assistance each month. As a person who once dedicated her life to caring for others, Winslow says it can be difficult to now receive care. But with a few hours of a SmartCare caregiver lending a hand, she can live independently in her own home.

LSSNE is one of 19 recipients that received a total $250,000 in domestic grants in January from LCMS World Relief and Human Care. LSSNE will use its $15,000 grant to expand services in two New Hampshire counties and replicate the program in Maine.

Thanks to unrestricted gifts from generous LCMS WR-HC donors, domestic grants continue efforts to share Christ's mercy with people in physical and spiritual need across the country. "LCMS WR-HC is privileged that our Domestic Development Grant Program allows us the opportunity to partner with these organization in hands-on ministry," said Barb Hoffmann, grant manager for WR-HC.

Domestic grants are awarded twice a year, in January and May, according to available funds. Applications for the next grant cycle are due Nov. 2. For guidelines, visit www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=14585.

Other grant recipients are:

• Trinity Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore., to provide educational opportunities for Latino children at Trinity Lutheran School.
• Immanuel Lutheran Church, Olivette, Mo., for continued ministry at Light of Christ Chinese Lutheran Mission.
• Sherman Park Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, Wis., for a parish nurse and deaconess program to provide health education and prevention, and advocacy services to the community.
• Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Cadillac, Mich., for a parish nurse ministry.
• First Trinity Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, Pa., for church volunteers to provide meals and engage the homeless in conversation.
• Resurrection Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C., for continued after-school ministry at Good Shepherd Lutheran School.
• Samaritan Counseling Center, Fairbanks, Alaska, to provide continued pastoral counseling services.
• St. Paul Lutheran Church, Jackson, Mo., for the Family Foundation outreach program, which identifies ways church members can assist families experiencing financial, emotional, relational, or spiritual challenges with everyday needs such as home or car repair, skill training, or just providing a listening ear.
• South Wisconsin District, Milwaukee, to establish an ethnic food pantry for the estimated 12,000 African immigrants who live in that city.
• Michigan District, Ann Arbor, for a chaplain to provide spiritual care to oncology patients in outpatient settings at St. Joseph Mercy Health Systems.
• Lutheran Metro Ministry, Cleveland, Ohio, to provide a volunteer coordinator for its homeless men's shelter.
• Lutheran Mission Society, Baltimore, Md., to provide additional staff at a compassion center, which distributes food and clothing, provides basic health services, and offer pastoral or crisis counseling.
• Lutheran Community Services, Wilmington, Del., for food and housing assistance for families with poverty challenges.
• Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri, St. Louis, for services to pregnant and parenting women and their families, and for youth development programs.
• Lutheran Family Services of Colorado, Denver, to provide services that foster self-sufficiency among refugees and for respite care for foster parents.
• Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, Fargo, for ministry to at-risk youth and their parents.
• Lutheran Social Services of Alaska, Anchorage, to provide food distribution, transitional housing, and other direct assistance to people in need.
• Metro Milwaukee Lutheran Mission Society, Milwaukee, Wis., to provide information, resources, and encouragement to help former offenders in their transition toward becoming productive members of society.