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The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society is the largest not-for-profit provider of senior care and services in America. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD, the Society operates more than 250 centers throughout the United States.

The Society’s founder, Reverend August “Dad” Hoeger, incorporated the society in 1922. The first home was opened in Arthur, North Dakota on March 1, 1923. Since then, the Society has grown to operate over 250 centers and employ more than 270,000 people.

-Founding
Rev. August Hoeger worked as a pastor in North Dakota for several years in the early 1920s. During his tenure, the church undertook the task of raising money for a young boy in the parish who needed money to get to a hospital for treatment for his polio. The donations raised $2000 more than the boy needed to get treatment, so Rev. Hoeger suggested that the money go to help others with disabilities

This $2000 went to found the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society which was incorporated under the North Dakota state laws on September 29, 1922 as a religious, charitable, not-for-profit organization.

The first Good Samaritan Society center opened in Arthur, North Dakota on March 1, 1923. It began as a center for mentally and physically disabled people and followed the principles of Christianity. Rev. Hoeger believed that the organization should take care of the “whole person, body and soul.”

1920s through 1940s
The Society continued to grow throughout the Great Depression, nearing the end of the decade with facilities in ten states and twenty-seven different locations. Because of financial difficulties and a rift in philosophy within the Society, the Board of Directors voted to split the Society into two separate organizations: The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society and Lutheran Hospitals and Homes. After the split, the Society was left with the facilities in Arthur, ND; Ambrose, ND; Sioux Falls, SD; and Greeley, CO as well as the debts of the entire organization.

Post Split
After the division of the Society, Rev. Hoeger paid off the large debt and began opening new facilities and expanding the services offered through the Society. By 1952, the Society was in seven states and ran thirty-two centers. At the end of the twentieth century, the Society boasted 206 facilities located in over twenty states. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD, the society currently operates more than 250 locations in twenty-four states and employs over 24,000 people who serve approximately 28,000 residents.