Emily Leedom and her team get a look at the progress at the new building site. (Photo courtesy of Fiegen Construction)
By Jake Geis
Great things start small.
No one expected in early 1858 that a sleepy little town in southwestern France would be visited by the Blessed Mother and become a center of healing for the entire world. But when a need is present, God works through his children to address it.
Like its namesake, The Lourdes Center here in the Diocese of Sioux Falls began as a small step towards healing—how can we reach those struggling with loss, loneliness, marital tension, infertility, addiction and past hurts that are keeping them bound? Through the dedicated and prayerful work of its team, The Lourdes Center has grown and is ready to take the next step by building a new location.
WHAT IS THE LOURDES CENTER?
For Emily Leedom, executive director of The Lourdes Center (TLC), this moment is a testament to the team at TLC and how it fulfills its mission to provide outpatient mental health care focused on healing and flourishing.
“At The Lourdes Center, we provide counseling, as well as retreats and programs that cover a range of topics, from parenting, chastity or healing from past hurts,” Emily said. “Our services are rooted in a Catholic vision of the human person combined with the psychological sciences.”
The Lourdes Center builds upon the work started by Catholic Family Services. “This ministry has been around since the 1950s, and in every season, its mission has evolved to meet the needs of that day,” Emily said. “Beginning in 2020, God began doing something new to more fully combat the mental health epidemic and emotional suffering of our time.” Through prayer and careful discernment, The Lourdes Center (which the staff commonly refers to as TLC) was built from this foundation.
It is apparent that what TLC is doing is working and is needed. “We serve 100 to 115 people per week in counseling services alone,” Emily noted, “and will reach an additional 1,000 people annually through programming and speaking engagements.”
The stories of lives changed through TLC’s work are a gift of hope in this chaotic world.
GROWTH NECESSITATES A NEW LOCATION
Currently, The Lourdes Center is housed in the Chancery building located just north of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph. While this was a great incubator for TLC, as it grew, it became evident that this location presented some issues.
Tabitha Likness, the chair of the Advisory Council to The Lourdes Center, explained these challenges: “Over the years, the concern has arisen that we’re running out of space in the Chancery. We required more counselors to meet the demand, but we didn’t have a place to put them. That was a huge barrier that initially we didn’t know how to overcome. It was wonderful to be right on campus with everybody else, but space was a concern.”
Emily echoed Tabitha’s privacy concerns: “We felt we were unable to offer the level of confidentiality we wanted for our clients, as our current space is shared with 40 other people that serve the diocese.”
The shared space created hesitation on the part of some clients to use the service, or confusion for first-time clients that they were actually coming to the correct location of The Lourdes Center. As a result, TLC faced a choice. “We could either stay the size we were or grow to meet the demand,” Emily said. “So, after prayer and discernment, we said, ‘Let’s look at moving to a new location.’”
RENOVATING OLD OR BUILDING NEW
At first, The Lourdes Center team looked at moving into an existing office building and remodeling it to suit their needs. However, when they toured the available structures, it was difficult to find one that could be readily modified to meet their needs.
“One of the buildings we looked at was so dim that we would have to spend a lot of money to tear out the current lighting and replace it with new lighting,” Tabitha said. “In the process, we would have to tear out the ceiling and replace it.”
This pattern was repeated in the various properties they toured, with several looking promising at first, but then becoming financially unfeasible when they looked at renovation costs.
During this process of searching for the right location, the notion was floated to price out building a new facility. At first, Emily was hesitant.
“I knew how expensive residential real estate has been in Sioux Falls and just assumed building was too expensive,” she said. But after taking bids on land and a structure, they found it to be the most cost-effective option.
“Renovation of an older building would not match our goals and would cost more than building new,” Tabitha noted. “And a new building would fit our goals the best.”
THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT
Emily and the TLC team worked with designers to craft a building that not only allows for growth in services but creates the correct environment. “We wanted everyone who walks into our office to feel seen, known and cared for,” Emily explained. “And in the process, we asked ourselves many questions. What do we want this building to feel like? What do we want them to experience?”
The experience will start from the moment a client walks through the door. “There will be a beautiful fireplace in the entry way, because I want it to feel like a warm hug when they enter this space,” Emily said. “How we want them to experience our space has been an intentional effort.”
The Lourdes Center team’s ability to offer their services will be enhanced in the new building. This building will not only have space to add more counselors and create more privacy, but it will also have a dedicated programming room.
“[In this room] we can regularly host therapy groups and grief nights, which are programs where we show people how you can pray amidst grief and difficult memories, or what to do if you are trapped in unforgiveness,” Emily describes. “We are starting a ‘Freedom from Pornography’ group with new technologies that allow us to facilitate this group better.”
A central feature of the new building will be an on-site chapel. “Having this chapel to allow [our clients and our team] to pause, pray and reflect will be massively impactful to the healing work we are fostering,” Emily said. “There is an ease and freedom when it is right there. It eliminates some of the barriers and burdens, whether that is an elderly person that is mobility limited or making it easier to stop and not feel rushed to go to the next thing will be wonderful.”
But with the new space, the team was prudent in their decision-making. “The most difficult part of all this was to plan into the future and predict how far will things grow 10 years into the future,” Tabitha explained. “You don’t want to way overbuild, but we wanted to build for expected growth. We tried to be realistic, but visionary at the same time.”
The team struck a balance and found that with a new building rather than a remodel of an existing structure, they could achieve these objectives in the most cost-effective manner.
TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY
Any ambitious project requires someone to handle the fundraising. “I have a team of three volunteers that have single-handedly raised $1.5 million in pledges toward our stretch goal of $1.75 million,” Emily said. “We are getting so close and now are asking the community to help us finish it. They have made this project doable and working with them has made this one of the greatest honors of my career.” This effort generated the operating capital to start the project.
One member of that team was Barbara Lockwood, the chair of the Gift of Hope Event Committee and a natural fit to aid in this endeavor, as she has a passion for the mission of TLC. “So many people are looking for counseling in their time of crisis,” Barbara said. “Oftentimes when we are at our lowest point, we realize we need the Lord’s help.
The Lourdes Center provides that help. Even people who are not Catholic recognize that. It is amazing how many people that are not Catholic are coming to The Lourdes Center.”
Barbara used her previous experiences to make connections with people who she felt would be willing to aid in this endeavor.
“Because I worked so many years on the Gift of Hope Committee, I could reach out to the individuals that were so generous for the Gift of Hope event,” Barbara said. “I don’t know how to thank people enough for their readiness to support, their generosity in giving to this campaign, as well as their continued support through the Gift of Hope. Had it not been for everyone jumping on board, this building would not have become a reality. It is heartwarming the response we’ve received—our donors want to be a part of helping people in crisis. Huge, huge gratitude to everyone who has come forward.”
Through the hard work of the fundraising team and the design team, the new building for TLC broke ground in April of this year. “When we did the groundbreaking, we had a wonderful crowd present,” Barbara said. “People wrote words of encouragement and prayerful verses on the studs that would be used for the building. It’s not just a building but a center that can be a haven for so many people.”
The building will be located near 69th and Southeastern in southeastern Sioux Falls.
“The location was chosen in a neighborhood, so it had a homey aspect to it,” Barbara said. “It’s an easy access location, but not an intimidating location being in more of a residential area. We want people to come to The Lourdes Center to feel comfortable and at home.”
That hope for the future has been validated through the building process and the excitement for the new building in the diocese.
“We have been continually astounded at the confirmation we have received,” Barbara said. “There are God’s fingerprints all over this. That affirms we are headed in the right direction; he can’t do anything when you are sitting still. He wants his people to be healed and brought closer to him, and that is what The Lourdes Center is accomplishing.”
The project is currently moving along on time, with a tentative completion date before Christmas of this year.
HELP IS STILL NEEDED
As the completion date nears, there will still be a few finishing touches the team at The Lourdes Center would like help with. To ensure the space honors the dignity of the work being done, the team has a beautiful vision when it comes to furnishings, fixtures and decor.
“Our team works hard to stay in the disposition that the Lord is the healer, we get to participate in what he’s doing,” Emily said. In that vein, the environment needs to match the mission. “I can’t wait to incorporate sacred art into the building. I want it to be an invitation into beauty, wonder and curiosity—in its simplicity and in its depth and complexity.”
To accomplish this, the team requires additional monetary gifts to hit their stretch goal. “We would greatly appreciate help getting the project over the finish line,” Emily said. “The goal is to have a consistent theme that elevates our clients towards beauty while inducing a warm, inviting feeling.”
Like a mustard seed, God takes our small ideas and transforms them into mature trees whose branches reach to numerous other people. His gift to St. Bernadette through our Blessed Mother inspired the healing we see across the ocean and two centuries later in South Dakota. That compassion for healing and resolve to heal more people led the team of The Lourdes Center and the people who volunteered their time, talent and treasure to the building of this new facility to serve the diocese. If a small flame is calling to your heart, place it near the tinder of the Holy Spirit and he will fan that fire in great ways.
Clients share the power of healing through Christ found at The Lourdes Center
- “In one of the darkest seasons of my life after my husband’s death, I found myself at The Lourdes Center and, week after week, with the unwavering support of my counselor, I slowly rediscovered hope.”
- “I thought I had an easy life, but I still wasn’t showing up to my friends and family in the way I wanted. I couldn’t figure out why or what was ‘wrong’ with me. The Lourdes Center started to help me unpack my story, and I realized there was so much that I was avoiding. They helped me to understand my own experience so that I can better be the guy I want to be.”
- “I found immense freedom and forgiveness in Christ through The Lourdes Center’s healing program and ultimately came back to Church after decades of being away.”
SUPPORT THE MISSION
If you would like to support the mission of The Lourdes Center or contribute towards the building project, please contact tlc@thelourdescenter.com.
