- About
- Services
- HousingServices to help families retain and regain stable housing.
- Early LearningPre-K education for children experiencing homelessness.
- EAPEmployee Assistance Program that connects employees in crisis with the services they need.
- Family StoreAccess to free clothing and essential items for children age 0–17.
- Employee Stability ProgramEmployee Stability Program helps employees retain or regain housing stability.
- Get Involved
- Individual GivingMake a life-altering gift in support of Wellspring families.
- Corporate EngagementLearn how your company can make an impact on family homelessness.
- VolunteerismShare your time, share your talents. Here’s how you can help.
- Planned GivingPlanning what is important to you in life creates a legacy for tomorrow.
- Our FundersWith gratitude to our partners in ending homelessness.
- PublicationsRead impact reports and archived newsletters.
FIRE
Family Information &
Resource Exchange
Family Information & Resource Exchange (FIRE)
For a family facing homelessness, it is incredibly difficult to find help. Systems are fragmented. Waitlists are long. And it is confusing to know who to call. A recent Gates Foundation study spotlighted how a parent facing homelessness had to call 40 different phone numbers before getting one “yes.”
Wellspring believes we can do better. Much better. And at scale. We are in the planning phase of building a technology platform to help service providers coordinate and optimize referral and services. This will make it much easier, faster, and less traumatic for families to make the connections they need.
Help for Helpers
Many people have good intentions. Most people, really. But when it comes to the intention of helping a family facing homelessness, even the helpers get stuck. Who do I call? Who can I refer to?
Imagine you’re a teacher who wants to help a student whose family is scared they’ll become homeless. Or maybe a librarian who is worried about a single mom who you know lives in her car. Or maybe you work in the Fire Department and someone calls asking for help with homelessness. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a single place to refer the family in need?
This is the vision of FIRE: Family Information & Resource Exchange. Wellspring is bringing organizations and technology together to build such a solution.
Help for Families
Families facing homelessness are tired. They’re traumatized. It is exhausting (and depressing, and scary) for parents to be raising children while experiencing homelessness. Wellspring is committed to helping parents find the solutions they need: stable housing, child care, food, clothing, and a community that cares about them.
The strategic vision of “FIRE” is to have a highly effective, easy-to-use tech platform that makes it easier for families to get the help they need. We are currently in the planning and development phases.
There is a tremendous need to collaborate and coordinate effectively – across many human services organizations in our region – in order to better serve children, youth and families who are facing homelessness. We truly need what Wellspring is developing as the Family Information & Resource Exchange, because we know it will close critical gaps and meet unmet needs once we have it in place.”
