Rainier Foothills Wellness Foundation reports growth in school mental‑health services and senior meals

Tammy Verhus, interim executive director of the Rainier Foothills Wellness Foundation, told the Enumclaw City Council on July 13 that the foundation’s school mental‑health program has expanded and continues to serve local students.

Verhus said the program has served a total of 82 students: 62 at Enumclaw High School, nine at Enumclaw Middle School and 11 at Thunder Mountain. She told the council six of the foundation’s high‑school students have “graduated from therapy.” Verhus said average behavioral‑incident metrics improved from about 0.69 to 1.016 in the 2025–26 reporting period — figures she framed as a positive direction for classroom behavior and learning.

On senior services, Verhus said the foundation currently serves 66 seniors and has prepared roughly 400 meals from scratch each week; the senior hot‑meals program delivers six meals weekly via three deliveries and relies on about 87 volunteers for prep, shopping and delivery. “We really look forward to a continued partnership with all of you,” Verhus said.

Verhus asked council members to direct questions to the foundation or to staff if they need further detail on staffing or program operations. She said the organization continues to recruit an executive director after the former director, Sarah Stratton, departed earlier in the year.

The presentation was delivered as part of the council’s consent and reporting items; there was no council action tied to the update. The foundation’s figures and the reported behavioral metric improvements were presented by Verhus as performance indicators; the council did not provide independent data in the meeting record to verify the metrics.

The foundation requested that council and staff maintain contact on program staffing and volunteer needs; Verhus said members of the public and council may reach out to the foundation or to Sarah Stratton for further questions.