A Message from DePriest Waddy, CEO: Exciting things are happening at Families First. This year has been fraught with hardship, and many families are more fragile than ever. These extraordinary times call for a bold new vision, and Families First has risen to the challenge. We have developed an innovative strategy to drive meaningful change for families while working together to break down the barriers to opportunity created by decades of social injustice.

Our new Navigator model combines tried and true best practices with a new approach for building strong families. With a focus on building resilience, we will serve the whole family (two+ generations) and work across the community to accelerate the whole family so they can achieve their full potential.

I hope you enjoy learning more about our bold vision for the future of Families First and, even more importantly, the lasting change we know we can help the families we serve achieve. With you in our corner, we are truly helping families build resilience so children can thrive.

Generations of poverty, social and racial injustice, lack of access to healthcare, and stigma surrounding counseling means many of the families we serve are living with untreated trauma. Now, the mental health issues arising from COVID-19 are creating a second pandemic – one which has yet to be fully recognized.

As a leader in family counseling since 1942, making therapy easily accessible and affordable for everyone in our community has always been a mission of Families First. When Elizabeth began to feel the weight of her anxiety and mental illness diagnosis and tried to seek therapy services through a large Metro healthcare facility, the process was difficult to navigate, with multiple departments to contact and referrals that took months. One call to Families First connected her to a therapist. Our sliding fee scale, along with the flexible virtual sessions made her journey to well-being possible.