History

Founded in 1981, Wellspring was one of the first nonprofits in Massachusetts to offer a physical home as a family shelter for local residents to recover from homelessness. It is especially appropriate that our headquarters are located in a historic building that was home to the Freemans, a prominent Black family whose patriarch bought his freedom from slavery.

As an organization committed to social justice, we listen to current and former program participants and use their feedback to shape our programs. Ten years after our founding, a group of eighty former participants who had lived in our family shelter helped us understand that “housing is not enough.” We believe that financial security is the most important lever for improved quality of life, health and long-term success. Access to education and training that lead to living wage salaries are the pathways to success. This was the inspiration for the 1995 launch of Wellspring’s Education Center, our Job Training Initiatives team in 2002 and our long-time partnerships with regional healthcare employers.

These days, Wellspring is laser-focused on helping young adults and families to manage (and ultimately comfortably handle) what are steep costs of living. That’s why our approach goes beyond education, job training, and career readiness alone. It’s not enough to simply create an opportunity; we must also remove the barriers that keep families and young adults stuck in financial stress.