We’re happy to announce that the Westside Infant-Family Network (WIN) was selected as one of eight “exemplary” place-based programs in the nation serving young children in a recent study released by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Certainly, this is wonderful news for WIN, but more importantly, this study emphasizes how the community can better meet the needs of critically challenged young children and their families by integrating sectors including health, social services, education and mental health. All too often, families in crisis are further stressed by having to navigate multiple systems at times when they are least able to do so. These are the families that fall though the cracks in current systems—and the social, emotional and financial impacts are devastating and long-term, especially for children.
We hope that the collaborative we’ve built with our partners, Westside Children’s Center, Venice Family Clinic, and St. Joseph Center, can serve as a model for how to give children and their families what they have asked us for: a single entry point for multiple services--and a warm relationship with a partner who can help them achieve their goals. Through technology and good, old-fashioned relationship building, true collaboration is more possible now than ever.