Samaritas

Our Mission: Serving people as an expression of the love of Christ. Our Vision: We connect people with families and communities, empower them to live their fullest life possible, and create a ripple effect of transformation. A social ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Samaritas is not just for Lutherans. The church has been meeting people’s needs since the early 1900s when a Lutheran “city missionary” arrived in Detroit to provide services to the poor. From the very beginning, Samaritas has reached out to individuals regardless of their religion, race, sexual orientation or ethnicity. The organization was incorporated as the Lutheran Inner Mission League in 1934. Today, Samaritas spans the state’s Lower Peninsula with more than 70 program sites in 40 cities. Samaritas diverse staff share a dedication to serving their fellow humans by doing the right thing, for the right reasons, every day.

At Samaritas we walk with people in need, offering hope and compassion while upholding their dignity, advocating for equality and justice, and seeking creative solutions. We deliver the home, family and community most connected to the individual relational, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of those we serve, wherever they might fall on the continuum of care. Through permanence, we deliver a sense of love, belonging, health and well-being that empowers those we serve with a feeling of personal control, confidence and worthiness to live their fullest life. When those we serve reach their full potential they, in turn, promote the dignity of others, creating a ripple effect out into the community that achieves the greatest transformation for all. Transforming entire communities one life at a time, Samaritas has been sending ripples of positive change across Michigan since 1934.