Willows House, Sound’s crucial and irreplaceable housing program that supports women in recovery and their children, benefitted significantly over the past two years through the Premera Social Impact grant’s $200,000 gift.
What is most unique about Willows House, the only one of its kind in the area, is that the facility, a residential complex located in South Seattle, houses women recovering from addiction and behavioral health issues — allowing them to live with their children. Many of the women living in this facility had temporarily lost their children to Child Protective Services.
Willows House’s mission is to provide a safe, healthy and positive environment for mothers and their children that supports recovery and assists them to achieve increased levels of independence. Willows serves women who are pregnant and/or have custody of at least one child, have been diagnosed with both a mental health and substance use condition, are currently clean and sober and have successfully completed inpatient treatment.
A remarkable 85% of the women enrolled in the two-year program move into permanent housing, after completing the program successfully.
Funding from Premera Social Impact helped support essential repairs to the facility, complete a long term sustainability plan and provide onsite counseling and substance use disorder treatment to the women, as well as vocational training. This gift helped us to deepen our commitment to these women and children.
One former client, Nichole*, who struggled with opioid addiction after giving birth to her daughter and being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, completed the program and graduated on to permanent housing.
“The Willows is by far one of the greatest things that someone in my shoes could be at because they offer so much support,” she says. “They allow you to take SUDs (addiction treatment) groups, they give you mental health treatment here and everything is onsite.”
Another resident of the program, Johnna*, was able to seek the mental health and addiction treatment support she needed while regaining custody of her children who had previously been in foster care. Formerly homeless, the program empowered her toward a life of recovery. Johnna states that without the support of the Willows and the staff at the Willows, she would not have had the success she did in her recovery. Johnna was most thankful for Sound and the Willows for providing her and her children with a safe place to blossom in her recovery.
An unexpected impact of this program, which has done so much for the residents and their children, is that the Premera Social Impact grant opened the door for other organizations to support the Willows.
“The Premera gift in many ways validated the impact of the program, giving other Family Foundations and individuals in the community the opportunity to support it,” says Chief Development Officer Susan Bean.” This initial investment in the program actually supported our efforts to raise more funds for the program.”
Bean went on to express her gratitude to Premera and the Social Impact grant and looks forward to more success with the program in the years ahead.
Join us in supporting the work that Sound does with Willows House and other vital programs in the community by clicking here.
*Last names not used for confidentiality reasons.
