Nonprofit tells council school mental-health program served 82 students; senior meal deliveries expanded

Tammy Verhus, interim executive director of the Rainier Foothills Wellness Foundation, told the Eden Plus City Council on July 13 that the foundation’s school-based mental-health program has served 82 students this school year, including 62 at Enumclaw High School, nine at Enumclaw Middle School and 11 at Thunder Mountain.

Verhus said six high-school students "graduated from therapy," and that the program’s measured rate of behavioral interventions improved from an average of 0.69 in 2024–25 to about 1.016 in 2025–26 — a change she described as a roughly 32 percent improvement in incidents tracked by the program. "This is a huge improvement that we really want to emphasize," she said.

She also briefed the council on the foundation’s senior hot-meals program, which currently serves about 66 seniors and has prepared roughly 400 meals weekly, delivered three times per week. Verhus said deliveries provide dinner and lunch on designated days and that the program relies on roughly 87 volunteers to shop, prepare and deliver meals.

On staffing, Verhus said the foundation’s director, Sarah Stratton, has stepped down; Verhus said she is a board member serving as interim executive director while the group searches for a permanent replacement. She thanked city council and staff for ongoing support and invited council members to direct questions to "Sarah or myself or anybody at the foundation."