While we hope to return to providing services once again later this year, our funding models have been fundamentally changed with the (reduction/loss) of public funding, making the current state of the finances of our program unsustainable. As a result, during the hiatus we will be restructuring our organization, applying for grants, and looking to add volunteers and board members so that our programs can return at full strength. The Wayward Society will also be moving out of our current location, and are seeking an alternative space to provide services. We would like to identify an art studio space with a small office, and we would welcome donors or collaborators who have such a location available and share our vision of community service. Wayward was born during the COVID-19 pandemic to support families with disabilities who were in crisis. Families who felt lost and stuck in gaps preventing them from living independently. Families who felt unheard, unsupported and without appropriate resources to meet their unique needs. Many of the families we’ve served over the past 3 years have struggled with physical or developmental disabilities, mental or behavioral health challenges (or a combination of 2 or more). Our unique free programming has allowed for us to safely find and recover 6 individuals with special needs who’d been missing due to elopement, successfully de-escalated 12 extreme behavioral crisis situations alongside law enforcement, provided 17 families with case management to find and secure housing, provided complete furnishings and assisted with their moving days, brought mental and behavioral health supports to over 1,500 families as a whole (through home visits/ in-office and tele-visit), our PIF program passed along donated adult diapers and home medical equipment to countless agencies and families across our great Stateline. Our team has also trained and educated over 6,000 individuals (Children and adults) in various life safety courses including: First-Aid and CPR, in-person and online safety, human trafficking awareness and prevention , elopement safety, and emergency preparedness for medically complex families. We’ve also offered expressive arts opportunities to all the families we serve as a way to decompress, discover new talents, find community, connect and build relationships throughout their time with us. The holistic approach within our wrap around support services has done some pretty incredible things for the families we’ve served, and we are so damn proud of that. Unfortunately, as a community-funded organization we’ve struggled quite a bit this last year to keep our programs running and available to families with limited staff and even more limited funding which brings us back to this. Despite our hiatus and the uncertainty of our future, I can promise you two things: 1.As a parents to medically complex kids, Drew and I PROMISE to never stop fighting for families in need. 2. As a clinician I will continue to grow our team to make sure more families can be served. We remain committed both professionally and personally to making Rockford a better place for the people we serve. For now, we need to take a break, take a deep breath, and develop a new approach to making these services financially sustainable.

If you'd like to help, contact us at info@waywardsociety.org or make a donation here on our website.

 Thank you for your support and understanding, Elly, Drew and The Wayward Society Crew