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WHS: Strengthening the family

Our Vision, Mission & Values

Vision Statement

Westside Holistic Family Services will continue to be a center for excellence, providing comprehensive holistic services which will enhance the quality of life for the children and families within, but not limited to, the Austin and West Garfield Park communities.

Mission Statement

Westside Holistic Family Services is a faith-based agency that ministers to individuals in the context of the family through various programs, using a holistic approach. The agency provides social and educational services primarily, but not limited to, residents of the Austin and West Garfield Park communities to promote empowerment and self-sufficiency.

Core Values

Westside Holistic Family Services is a Christian agency providing social and educational services dedicated to:

  • Practicing the principles of honesty and integrity in all aspects of our business
  • Demonstrating exemplary leadership
  • Actively meeting the needs of the families and children of our communities
  • Using a holistic approach that values the individual
  • Ensuring that every person is treated with dignity and respect
  • Providing quality services by employing professional staff

Our Story

Westside Holistic Family Services (WHFS) is a non-profit, Christian, community-based, minority-owned social service organization serving the children, youth and families of Chicago's Austin and West Garfield Park communities. Our mission is to provide a array of the most critical social service programs and using a family-centered, holistic approach, administer them to empower individuals to become self-sufficient. WHFS operates its program services under two main divisions: Educational Services: Head Start, Westside Alternative High School; , Child, Youth & Family Services: Family Case Management (for pregnant women and their infants thru 1st year of life), Teen Parent Services, Teen REACH After-school and Clinical Counseling/Parenting Classes.

Westside Holistic Family Services (WHFS) was founded in 1978 following years of social unrest on Chicago's West Side. As businesses and middle income families moved out, neighborhood stability began to breakdown. WHFS emerged as a counseling, GED and job training facility; the vision of Dr. H. Millicent Lindo and the congregation of Keystone Baptist Church, to address the social and economic devastation in their community. In 1990, following a series of hospital closings on the West Side, Dr. Lindo sought to keep health and humans services viable in the Austin community. Partnerships were formed with clergy, businesses, legislative leaders, healthcare networks, community activists and community service organizations to acquire the professional building vacated by St. Anne’s Hospital. Many of these supporters agreed to stay and form a collaborative partnership as a community service facility. This move resulted in the "Westside Holistic Family Service Center" - A "One-Stop-Shop". We call it, "THE MIRACLE ON DIVISION STREET".

Today, Westside Holistic Family Services (WHFS) continues to operate the six-story, fully occupied "One-Stop-Shop" facility and provide programs and services that reach thousands of clients from the West Side and other communities around Chicago. Our tenant service providers include: Austin Family Counseling, Park National Bank, City of Chicago WIC Services, ChildServ, Circle Family Healthcare Network, Chicago Municipal Employees Credit Union, Rishi Pharmacy, Austin Dental Care, Dr. Bill’s Learning Center and several private family practice physicians. Westside Holistic Family Services is a proud member of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, Child Welfare League of America and is accredited by the National Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement.

The Austin Community remains the largest community population in Chicago and represents a significant link between Chicago’s downtown area and the Western Suburbs; making the ongoing revitalization of this community essential. So the work is begun and will continue - person by person, family by family. Self-worth, relationships, families and communities are being rebuilt as we remain true to our motto: Strengthening the Family and Building the Community.