EXCEPTIONAL FAMILIES NETWORK
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  • Home
  • About EFN
    • Contact Us >
      • Board & Staff
      • Parent Advisory Council
    • Consulting & Speaking
    • Lending Library
    • Community Partners
    • EFN In the News
  • Programs
    • Partner Cafe
    • New Roads
    • Educational Advocacy
    • Miss Exceptional & Exceptional Gentlemen
    • Friendship Connections
    • Support Groups >
      • SFPS Tacoma
      • SFPS Olympia
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Miss Exceptional Pageant
    • Sensational Santa
    • Fundraiser >
      • Past Fundraisers
    • Pictures
  • Donate
    • Our Supporters
    • Membership
  • Volunteer
  • Resources
    • DadsMOVE
    • Greater Pierce Special Needs PTA
    • Mom and Me Mobile Clinic
    • The Princess Project
    • Special Education Advocates League
    • Special Portraits
    • Tacoma Special Needs PTA
    • We Rock the Spectrum
  • Get Help Now
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How We Began

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​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

PictureOur 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.

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.
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Our friend, Mary.

Our Values

  • Create Inclusion
  • Actively Listen
  • Show Respect
  • Foster Compassion
  • Empower Action

We Will:

  1. Strengthen our organization to build a strong foundation for our Mission and Vision.
  2. Support and educate exceptional families through creative programs and services.
  3. Empower exceptional families to advocate for an inclusive community developing strong, resilient children with special needs.
© 2011 - 2019,The Wyatt Holliday Foundation dba Exceptional Families Network
5204 Solberg Drive SW, Lakewood  WA  98499*  |  253-584-4336

EFN does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The material on this website is provided for educational purposes only. 

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