Wellspring Family Services

Wellspring Family Services is a source of opportunity for children, adults and families in Seattle and King County to reach their full potential. Our mission is so build emotionally healthy, self-sufficient families and a non-violent community in which they can thrive. Our vision is that all families will achieve the physical, emotional and financial stability they need to live positive lives. Our community impact goals are to: 1) Reduce or eliminate adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); 2) Mitigate the impacts of those that have already occurred; and 3) Expand parent/child services throughout King County.

Wellspring Family Services’ Community Services provides staff leadership, expertise and support for services that focus on family well-being, based on an understanding of the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and brain development, and their effect on lifelong health and fulfillment. Our strategies include:

Leadership & Expertise: We will ensure that all of our direct-service staff are trained in identifying and helping to mitigate ACEs. Wellspring staff will present at conferences and meetings throughout Seattle and King County, to help increase understanding of the impacts of ACEs and their relationship to brain development. We will also inform local, state and national policy-makers of our work and the needs of the families and children we serve.

Family Support: Wellspring will accomplish its program goals through integrated services that help all members of a troubled family. Our programs and services employ a two-generation approach, working with children AND their parents. With children, we employ strategies that foster their brain development and build resilience. Our reflective practice methods help children identify and express their thoughts and feelings in a positive way, and to develop a sense of security and confidence.

With adults, we help them to identify their own ACEs, and how these may have affected their lives and their responses to their children. Understanding their own background helps parents to not only change their own path, but also to help set their children on the path toward a positive future.

Wellspring has been serving the children and families of our region since its founding in 1892. Over the past 120+ years, the agency has built a strong foundation of successful programs, sound financial management, solid community partnerships, and extensive staff expertise on the needs of vulnerable children and families. Building on our long history of success, we look to a future in which all children can grow up with the social, emotional and developmental foundation they need for a successful adulthood.

Over the past few years we have maintained our service levels, and we achieve very good success rates with children and family members. For each of our core services (mental health, family homelessness, early learning, domestic violence intervention and basic needs) we have between a 77% and 94% success rate. These services have reached more than 5,000 children and families in crisis each year for the last 5+ years. However, each year we must turn away hundreds of families and children in need of our help due to lack of capacity. Flat or decreased public funding has meant that we are unable to expand our services, despite the overwhelming need.

In 2013, Wellspring began a new planning process to help us establish the direction of our work for the next five to ten years. As we continue to help families work toward stability, our central goal in the coming years will be family well-being. This includes not only housing stability, but also promoting mental & physical health, and helping our clients to develop solid life skills, strong parenting skills, adequate education, and employment. The underlying basis for this work will be an effort to reduce traumatic experiences for children, and mitigate the impacts of those that have already occurred – for adults as well as children.