All of our work is guided by our mission, vision, and values.
Since 1965, Foundations has been a nonprofit focused on community, collaboration, leadership, and innovation.
OUR MISSION
Innovating care to heal mind and spirit; changing lives, families, and communities.
OUR VISION
We envision a caring and connected community that embraces the health and wholeness of all people.
OUR VALUES
We live our core values of:
Spirituality
We work with all individuals, respecting their beliefs, sacred dignity, purpose and meaning. We offer solace and comfort to others, as we would want it given to us.
Justice
We believe that everyone should have access to quality mental health care and fight for those who do not have access to it.
Ethics
We believe in doing the right thing. We demonstrate ethical leadership in our work and in the community.
Joy
We love our work and our community, and we are grateful we can make a difference. We celebrate resilience. We believe that people have joy within them.
Relationships
We realize we cannot do this alone. We need human connection, partnerships, and teamwork.
Excellence
We believe people can lead from every chair, and everyone has a sphere of influence. We value innovation and bringing about positive change for people, families, and communities.
OUR ROOTS
In 1965, George Kress of Green Bay Packaging founded what is now Foundations Health & Wholeness to create greater access to mental health care in the Green Bay community. The vision was for a mental health clinic that would operate under three guiding principles:
- Provide the highest quality care
- Integrate the mind, body and spirit into treatment
- Make services available to everyone
In 1999, the organization added a treatment foster care program to its mission. The foster care program is statewide, and currently has 7 regional offices that serve children and teens throughout Wisconsin in need of out-of-home care.
At the beginning of 2021, Foundations acquired the RAYS Youth Services program. RAYS Youth Services is a prevention-focused program that helps all youth in Sheboygan and Manitowoc Counties. A year later, we took over this work in Brown County, as well. All youth are at risk of encountering negative impacts related to school behavior and readiness, violence or neglect in the home that may result in homelessness or runaway incidents, poor emotional and physical health, and poor social and emotional development. Honoring the reality that youth have certain aligned needs as a group, as well as very individual needs, the RAYS Youth Services team provides a variety of prevention-based services to make sure youth know that they have access to trusted adults in the community.
OUR BRANDING
To reflect its community impact and programs, in 2017, the organization’s name changed to Foundations Health & Wholeness. The three words in our name relate around approach to care:
- Foundations – we are here to walk with people has they strengthen the foundations of their mind and spirit
- Health – Mental health is a key component of overall health and well-being. The World Health Organization defines health as, “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
- Wholeness – Wholeness is unity. It’s a personal state of forming a complete and harmonious life.
Our logo uses three connecting bands to join individuals, families, and community together as they heal mind and spirit. The honeycomb or puzzle design of our website was inspired by the stories of our community. Every cell of the honeycomb, or piece of the puzzle, has a story to tell. Together, these stories make up our community.