Our Mission

Blessing the life of a child in foster care, one child at a time

Our goal is to bless and transform the lives of children living in foster care....One child at a time

Embrace Washington is committed to providing, caring and supporting children in foster care within our community. We do this by raising awareness of vulnerable children's needs, identify how to meet those needs by connecting individuals and organizations with a heart to serve the foster care community.

Daily we strive to eliminate any roadblocks that foster parents face to provide a normal happy life for a child in foster care. These roadblocks could be a variety of things such as: providing a foster child a new bed, educational support, paying for summer camp, music or sports and educational support are just to name a few. Activities for foster children and their families build healthy memories and experiences which allow kids to feel loved and stable in an uncertain time in their lives.

Our Impact

2000+ Welcome Boxes

Throughout the year generous donors have assembled over 2000 + welcome boxes to hand out to children who are waiting in the DSHS office. These boxes help to occupy the child's time and bring a smile to their faces during an uncertain time.

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900+ Duffel Bags

The duffel program began in March of 2016. Since then community members have purchased and decorated over 900 duffel bags to date. Seeing the smiles on the children's faces when they are given these bags is priceless!

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Many events throughout the year

Here at Embrace we love to provide many events throughout the year to make our foster families feel special. Some of our fun yearly events include:

Foster Mom's Tea

Daddy Daughter Dance

Princess Party

Dads Dudes and Science

Foster Santa Breakfast

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Our Leadership

Embrace Washington is blessed with a wealth of passionate leaders

Kevin Parker

Co-founder/Board member

Kevin Parker is a Co-Founder of Embrace Washington and owns Dutch Bros. coffee shops in Spokane, WA. He also teaches in the Whitworth and Gonzaga MBA programs. Kevin lives in Spokane with his three kids, Emelia, Eve and Ross and his wife Kerry. Kevin is committed to changing the face of foster care, not only in Spokane, but the entire State of Washington.

Shannon Boniface

President/DSHS Area Administrator

Shannon has worked in the field of child welfare for 15 years. After studying social work at the University of Nevada, she worked for both state and county agencies in Nevada, gaining experience in all aspects of child welfare. In 2007, Shannon began working for DSHS, Children’s Administration. She is a Regional Supervisor and Program Consultant for the Family to Family Program created by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In addition, she is actively involved in the regional recruitment and retention of foster and relative caregivers.

Bryce Wilkinson

Vice President

Bryce joined the Embrace Washington Board in 2016 to help create awareness and support of the children in our community that are in the foster care system.

Bryce works for Washington Trust Bank as a Relationship Manager in the Bank’s Commercial Banking Department.

Active in his community, Bryce also volunteers his time with Junior Achievement, is the current Vice Chair for the College Success Foundation’s Spokane Board of Directors, and is a Board Member for Goodwill Industries of the Inland NW.

Alene Alexander

Executive Director

Alene has been involved in education for more than 40 years. She has taught grades K-12 and served as a high school administrator. Alene worked on legislation in Idaho to benefit students who reside in juvenile detentions centers. In Spokane, she worked for Volunteers of America and Spokane Falls Community College developing a program to transition Spokane County youth in foster care through high school and into college.

Alene@embracewa.org

Katie Felchlin

Community Development Coordinator/Treasurer

Katie and her husband started to foster in 2010. After 18 months fostering, they adopted an amazing girl, giving their three biological children a beloved sister. During this journey, she volunteered and supported many foster groups in her Spokane community. She is honored to be a part of Embrace Washington, where her heart and passion is to support those who work hard for foster children.

Jennifer Springstead

Secretary

Jen has served the Spokane community as a volunteer, coach, mentor, coordinator, and teacher for more than 15 years. She has always been drawn to working with at-risk students and has helped to develop programs of support in elementary schools and high schools. Jen recently taught English at Lewis and Clark High School and now serves as secretary of Embrace Washington. Jen and her husband fostered and adopted their son, and they are passionate about the need for churches and community members to support foster children, the staff who serve them, and the families who care for them.

Monica Cheney

Administrative Assistant

Monica brings her tremendous talent for organization and office management to the office here at Embrace Washington. When Monica is not busy at Embrace Washington she treasures her time with her husband and 3 daughters. Monica's family enjoys serving at their church as well as working with the foster care community here in Spokane.

monica@embracewa.org

Our Board

Embrace Washington has many prominent community members that serve on our board

Nadine Burgess

Owner of Spokane Gymnasics

Nadine is originally from Oregon and has lived in Spokane since 2006. She now considers it her forever home and loves the people, opportunity, outdoors and community of the Intermountain Northwest. She enjoys handstands, kayaking, camping, horse-pack trips, hiking, cooking, literature, travel, field trips and “behind the scene” tours, critters large and small, and positively impacting the lives of children.

Nadine started coaching gymnastics at 14 years olds, and it remained her passion as a “fun, side gig” prior to becoming a manager, then owner of Spokane Gymnastics in 2010.

Nadine is a proud Rotarian, and currently serves as treasurer of NAWBO and is a board member of Embrace Washington, Children FIRST and Greater Spokane Incorporated.

Nadine is most famous for her “Handstands around the World!”

Kari Conner

Owner of Ben & Jerrys

Kari Conner and her husband Steve brought the Ben & Jerry’s concept to Spokane in 2004. In 2013, their community service attitude was recognized by Ben & Jerry themselves by awarding them the “Social Mission Award” which is the second highest award a franchisee can achieve.

Nationally, Kari has been involved in the Ben & Jerry’s Franchise Advisory Board representing the West Coast. Locally, she has been on the Spokane Regional Health Food Advisory Board and is currently serving on theBusiness Improvement District Board. (BID).

Kari and her family love being involved in events that enables foster kids to have all the opportunities they deserve to experience.

Jodi Felice

Adoption Attorney

Jodi is an attorney in Spokane with fourteen years of experience, now practicing primarily in the area of adoptions. She previously represented DCFS/DSHS from 2006 to 2013 in child welfare matters in Spokane County and Stevens County. Having represented clients in all facets of child welfare, Jodi brings passion and experience to her Board position.

Jodi is looking forward to supporting foster children and those who care for them, including foster parents, relative caregivers, and social workers.

Cindy Guthrie

Statehood Media

Cindy Guthrie is a Senior Account Manager with Statehood Media. With a degree in Journalism, she brings marketing and communication skills to Embrace Washington. Working to bring awareness and support for our foster system, Cindy is excited to be a part of this organization. Cindy is a member of
Rotary 21 where she is chairman of Foster Kidfest helping find forever homes for foster children within our community.

Cindy is also on the Civic Affairs Committee and International Services Committee for Rotary 21. She has served on the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs and is currently on
the board for Spring of Hope International. As a mother of three grown children, she enjoys time with
her family, skiing, traveling and volunteering her time to help our vulnerable children feel wanted.

Bobbie League

Owner of Mothers Cupboard Nutrition

Bobbie joined the Embrace Washington Board of Directors after retiring from her position as Planned Giving Officer /Donor Relations, twelve years, with the Spokane Guilds’ School in 2015. As an educator, administrator and speech therapist she has devoted her life to making a positive difference in the lives of children of all ages.

Bobbie, with her husband Richard, has owned Mother's Cupboard Nutrition stores for the past forty years in our region. Bobbie and Richard have four children scattered about the country and seven wonderful grandchildren.

Robert McKinley

CPA

I am honored to work with the Embrace family. I love seeing the impact Embrace Washington has on families and children that are most in need in the Spokane Community. The support that Embrace provides to the families and individuals who work with these children is second to none.

Robyn Nance

KXLY/Co-Founder of Teen Closet

Robyn Nance anchors Good Morning Northwest in Spokane WA. Children are a big part of Robyn's life. She not only has a degree in Broadcasting, she holds a B.S. in Education. Robyn has three children (all born here in Spokane), and a stepdaughter, who's married with children and living in IL. She is also a foster mom. Family is Robyn's passion, and her favorite thing in the world is spending time with her crew and devoting time to her no-profit Teen Closet.

Kami Winfrey

Manager of Technical Services at PotlatchDeltic Corporation

Kami Winfrey has over 15 years’ experience in the technical field, and leads a team of systems engineers, responsible for design and implementation of new technology across the enterprise.

Kami has always had a passion for bettering the lives of youth in Spokane. Growing up with a foster sister, she witnessed the large impact a family could have on a child’s future. Kami is also actively involved in giving back to her community, and serves on the board for Spokane County United Way’s Emerging Leaders Society, as well as the Advisory board for Spokane Community Colleges Network Design Program.

Long Term Priorities

Helping foster children thrive is our top priority

Embrace Washington has several long-term goals and priorities

Raise up new foster families.
Assist foster families in removing roadblocks and barriers as they take foster children into their homes.
Facilitate the continued goodwill between our community and Department of Social Health Services.
Help the faith community to equip, support, and retain foster families within their church community.
Work with pastors and leaders to strengthen birth families—and reduce the number of kids entering foster care.
Work to ensure that children in Washington who are legally free for adoption, yet lingering in foster care, are adopted.
Work to ensure that kids aging out of the child welfare system are connected to community resources.

News & Updates

Stay on top of Embrace Washington's activities

Featured

Aug 16, 2017

Our Fostering Journey

Aug 16, 2017

Foster care requires that we accept that life is hard. It is hard for the child and it will be hard for us, but the rewards can be tremendous. Foster care requires that we get outside our capacity comfort zone. The capacity needed is there, we just need to use it to know the rewards that are possible.