How We Began
Exceptional Families Network began as the online parent support arm of The Wyatt Holliday Foundation. The foundation opened its doors in 2004 as a tribute to Wyatt Holliday, a boy with Asperger Syndrome who tragically passed away at the age of 9. His mother, Therese Holliday, started the foundation as a way to help other parents who were struggling to navigate the complicated world of special needs. After more than 5 years of serving the local special needs community in and around Olympia, the foundation became inactive in 2010.
Where We're Going
Our friend, Latrell.
We are now doing business as the Exceptional Families Network! We relaunched in Puyallup in the Fall of 2011 with new leadership and a new vision for our work. After our re-launch, we held focus groups with our constituents to determine what families want and need from us. Ultimately, this process led to the creation of our Parent Advisory Council, which functions as a steering committee. Our Board understands that the Council's advice and guidance is critical to our journey, and we are committed to listening to the parents, caregivers and families we serve.
As we continue to grow our current services and programs, we are also dreaming up big plans for the future. We're working diligently to broaden our efforts and become financially sustainable so that we can keep growing and serving more exceptional families and communities.
We moved our office to Lakewood in April 2015 with the hopes and plans to expand our abilities to hold more meetings, workshops and reach more people. In March 2019, we moved to our current location. This new space allows us to host more meetings and workshops, house additional volunteers while reaching our families and caregivers with the needed support and resources.
See our most recent news here.
As we continue to grow our current services and programs, we are also dreaming up big plans for the future. We're working diligently to broaden our efforts and become financially sustainable so that we can keep growing and serving more exceptional families and communities.
We moved our office to Lakewood in April 2015 with the hopes and plans to expand our abilities to hold more meetings, workshops and reach more people. In March 2019, we moved to our current location. This new space allows us to host more meetings and workshops, house additional volunteers while reaching our families and caregivers with the needed support and resources.
See our most recent news here.
Our Mission Statement
We support, educate, and empower exceptional families and our community to create an inclusive environment for children with special needs.
Our Core Belief
We believe that every child with special needs is exceptional!
Our Vision Statement
Connecting exceptional families and building an inclusive community to support the development of strong, resilient children with special needs.
Our Goal
Through our work, we envision the normalization of special needs to the point where the community surrounds our families in a spirit of inclusion in such a way that "special needs" are thought of as "exceptional."
We wish to deliberately re-frame thinking in a more positive way.
And, it's about much more than tolerance.
It's about acceptance and understanding of differences.
We wish to deliberately re-frame thinking in a more positive way.
And, it's about much more than tolerance.
It's about acceptance and understanding of differences.
Our friend, Mary.
Our Values
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We Will:
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