Focus Area: Early Childhood

Grant Amount: $10,000

Located in St. Louis Park. Established in 1954 to provide shelter and support for women who were homeless, today Wayside is a residential treatment program where children live onsite with their mothers during treatment that addresses both addiction and trauma. Wayside continues to broaden their work confronting the many issues that impact a woman’s ability to recover from addiction, including focusing on compounding life factors: poverty, physical and sexual abuse, unemployment, homelessness, poor physical health, and the stress of unsupported parenting.

Grant supports continuing the pilot for a new model of mental health treatment specifically designed to be culturally appropriate for African American clients, a group not well served by previous treatment options. Wayside has hired an African American children’s mental health specialist who is providing mental health diagnoses for children and culturally appropriate treatment. The program focuses on addressing the traumatic experiences of parental substance abuse, mitigating the social-emotional impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences. Wayside cross-trains other staff so that all services provided are culturally responsive and trauma informed.