For 25 years, Wellspring House has been helping families move out of poverty to achieve more secure and fulfilling lives.  An advocate for social justice, Wellspring House is a non-profit organization that annually provides education, emergency shelter, affordable housing, job training, family support and mentoring programs to hundreds of families on Boston's North Shore.  Wellspring House is rooted in the vision of a just society in which people live interdependently and all have access to homes, education, and community support.  The organization has grown organically, sprouting new programs and projects as needs are revealed.

Wellspring House depends on the continuing generosity of people who recognize the needs and know that we address them effectively.  Please support our varied work and make a generous, tax-deductible, secure, online donation by clicking here now.  Read about other ways to support our work by visiting our Supporting Wellspring page.

Wellspring names new executive director: Kay O'Rourke

Read more about Kay and her history with Wellspring

The new executive director of the Wellspring House is trying not to think too hard about the shoes she'll have to fill.

"I have to bring my own footprint," said Kay O'Rourke, who was named executive director of the Gloucester nonprofit Tuesday night and will replace Nancy Schwoyer, one of the agency's founders, on April 1.(Schwoyer) is hailed as a legend for very good reason. I can't even think about filling her shoes."

The transition will mark the first time that someone other than one of the seven founders has been at the helm of Wellspring. From its founding in 1981 until 1992, the seven ran the organization together as an executive board; Schwoyer took the lead as executive director in 1992.

O'Rourke, a 50-year-old Jamaica Plain resident, is no stranger to Wellspring or Cape Ann. She's been involved with the organization for 25 years, ever since she was a student in Colorado studying for her masters degree in adult education and read "The Passionate God," a book by Wellspring cofounder Rosemary Luling Haughton.

Read the full story in the Gloucester Times...

Wellspring in the Community: A Thank You

The Wellspring Story 

How much do you really know about Wellspring’s beginnings, mission, beliefs, life and work? Many people who give to or work at Wellspring or study there or attend events still have many questions. To answer some of them the board asked one of Wellspring’s founders, Rosemary Luling Haughton, to write a short history, ‘The Wellspring Story’, including pieces by some people connected to Wellspring in various ways, and with photographs. The book costs $5.00; it will be available at all Wellspring events and you can arrange to pick up copies at Wellspring House.  Copies by mail can be ordered from the Development Office at 302 Essex Ave, Gloucester, MA 01930, 978-281-3558 x301 or by email. Please remember to add $2.50 p.& p, supply your name, address, phone and/or e-mail and how you intend to pay for the book.

Since 1981, Wellspring House, Inc. has been serving the North Shore-Cape Ann region with programs in housing, emergency shelter, education and economic development.  Wellspring lives out its mission in four ways:

by providing shelter in a spirit of hospitality;
by developing affordable housing;
 by supporting community economic development;
by providing education to facilitate personal and social growth and change.

      

Wellspring in the News  

What has Wellspring been up to in 2007?  Take a look at our Annual Review for 2007 to read about our programs and achievements this year!

Wellspring's Spring 2008 Newsletter "Wellspring Connection is available here...

Click here for a list of alternative (and earth-friendly) holiday gifts brought to you by Wellspring's SEED Committee!

Think ahead to the 2008-2009 One Family Scholarships!  A program flyer for 2008-2009 can be found here....

Wellspring was profiled in the December 18th, 2006 issue of "People" Magazine.  Read the piece entitled "Their Family Shelter Feels More Like a Home".

 

 

 

 

Rosemary Haughton of Wellspring House, has published "Gifts in the Ruins: Rediscovering What Matters Most" with Orbis Books.  You can buy Rosemary's book from the Orbis Books web site, and enjoy it knowing that a portion of the proceeds from its sale goes to support Wellspring House. Rosemary first gained international recognition as a writer on theology in the 1960s—and children’s books too. Here, in word and art, she rediscovers values and images—old, new, familiar, strange—that she holds onto and that have the power to heal and strengthen our own hearts.