Advocacy

We advocate for long-lasting health solutions so that all children, families and communities may flourish.

We Believe, So We Act

We believe all families deserve to be healthy. WithinReach leads a collaborative effort with key partners, providers and policymakers to connect community health and social service systems together so that we can serve families better. By identifying the barriers and inefficiencies in these systems, we are able to build policies that improve the whole system.

Legislative Priorities

At WithinReach, we believe that healthy, resourced families make strong communities. Driven to break down barriers that prevent families from living healthy lives, WithinReach advocates for public policy and budget matters that directly advance our mission and vision. This commitment drives our legislative priorities this year, which include:

Building A Help Me Grow System in Washington

Many kids face barriers that hinder their health, development, and learning opportunities. We request the legislature provide $5 million per biennium in ongoing funding to both build statewide capacity and also establish a grant program for community collaboration for Help Me Grow. Help Me Grow is a community-driven, resource and referral linkage system that connects young children and their families to appropriate services and community supports. Parents, caregivers, early learning, health and other service providers can call, text, or email Help Me Grow and connect to caring people who are highly trained in child development. Building and delivering a Help Me Grow system in Washington was included as a goal in the Fair Start for Kids Act that was passed by the legislature in 2021. This investment would take an important step in advancing that goal.

In addition to this request to help build out Help Me Grow in Washington, we also support an additional $500,000 per biennium to further build out a specialized pathway for Help Me Grow to serve as our state’s Plan of Safe Care, which connects families who give birth to infants with substance exposure without other risk factors to resources and services.

Dismantling Systemic Racism and Advancing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We believe that all families deserve to be healthy. We acknowledge that race is the leading predictor of health disparities in our community, and that structural racism intentionally limits opportunities for people of color and significantly harms individual, family and community health and well-being. We support policy and budget solutions that identify and dismantle racist structures and reduce the social injustice and health disparities experienced by Black, Indigenous and Families of Color in Washington State.

Additional WithinReach Priorities

Ensure Access to Physical & Behavioral Health Care

We support efforts to increase access to both physical and behavioral health care services.

Improving Access to Healthy Foods

We support efforts to increase access to healthy foods for people who struggle to afford nutritious foods, including expanding access to school meals and food assistance programs.

How We Help

Learn more about how we serve families, strengthen communities and advocate for change.

See Our Programs