Treehouse wins national award for supporting foster youth

Treva Lind, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·1 min read

Oct. 4—Treehouse, a nonprofit for foster children that has programs in Spokane, received one of 10 Classy Awards for social innovation.

Seattle-based Treehouse supports the extra needs of foster children and operates Graduation Success to increase high school graduation rates and the newer program, Launch Success, for college students. Treehouse has programs in nine counties statewide.

When Graduation Success was launched in 2012, the statewide graduation rate for youth in foster care was 36.5%. Today, it's 50.4%, more than double the rate of increase for nonfoster care peers. Despite the pandemic, more than 158 youth in Graduation Success completed high school last year statewide.

The nonprofit's mission is to increase the statewide foster care graduation rate to 90% by 2027. Graduation Success serves 12 school districts in Eastern Washington, with a plan to expand into 60 additional school districts by the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Classy is a giving experience platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they advocate. Collectively, this year's Classy Award winners helped address global issues such as food insecurity, health care, housing support services and urban agriculture.

Classy's Leadership Council evaluated the top finalists to determine the winners across two award categories: Social Innovation and Adapt and Overcome. The council considered problem-solving approaches and direct impact.

For more information on Treehouse, visit treehouseforkids.org or call (206) 767-7000.