Felton Institute: A Legacy of Community-Centered Innovation
Felton Institute has been a pillar of human services and behavioral health support in San Francisco since 1889, addressing the city’s most pressing needs with a deep commitment to equity and social justice. Guided by our mission—“Rooted in equity, Felton Institute transforms the quality of life and promotes social justice to accelerate community-led change”—we provide holistic, culturally responsive services that empower individuals and families across generations. While Felton has long been recognized as a leader in behavioral health services, our work has evolved to address the intersections of mental health, education, and economic mobility—all critical to breaking cycles of poverty and fostering long-term community resilience. Today, we serve over 80,000 individuals annually across ten California counties, offering services in 15 different languages and dialects.

In San Francisco, where a significant portion of the 0-5 child population resides in low-income communities, Felton plays a key role in supporting families, particularly in neighborhoods with the greatest need, including the Mission District, Bayview, and Visitation Valley. By integrating evidence-based practices, early care and education, economic supports, and wraparound services, Felton reduces poverty, expands access to essential resources, and creates pathways to self-sufficiency for our city’s most vulnerable children, youth, and families. As we continue to innovate and adapt, Felton remains dedicated to fostering a more inclusive, thriving, and equitable future for all.

Connect & Thrive: A New Vision for Early Childhood Mental Health
At Felton Institute, we believe that healing happens in relationships, and that the strongest communities are built on connection. Connect & Thrive (CAT) is not just an early childhood mental health program—it’s a movement, a shift in the way we support our youngest children and the adults who care for them. Launched in 2023, Connect & Thrive redefines early childhood mental health by focusing not on “fixing” children or parents, but on strengthening the relationship between them. Grounded in Early Relational Health, CAT weaves together a network of clinicians, social-emotional learning specialists, and Parent Fellows—caregivers with lived experience—to create sustainable, community-driven change. Unlike traditional behavioral health models that focus solely on clinical interventions, CAT employs a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), integrating mental health professionals, social-emotional learning specialists, and caregivers with lived experience. A cornerstone of the program is the Parent Fellows initiative, which empowers caregivers who have received services to become leaders in their communities, facilitating peer support and advocacy. This peer-to-professional pipeline creates sustainable, community-driven change by ensuring that those most impacted by services help shape and deliver them.

Listening First: Building a Program Rooted in Community Needs
CAT was born from the voices of families. In 2022, we asked parents what they needed most. Their answer? More than therapy alone. They wanted safe spaces to connect, group healing opportunities, and practical tools to strengthen their relationships with their children. We listened.

Cross-Sector Collaboration: Weaving a Web of Support
Change doesn’t happen in isolation. CAT thrives on collaboration, working across systems to create a wraparound model of care. The success of CAT is built on strong partnerships with community organizations and institutions dedicated to supporting families. Key collaborators include San Francisco Department of Public Health, University of California San Francisco, Mission Economic Development Agency, San Francisco Unified School District’s Hilltop High School, which played a pivotal role in shaping the program through the Infant Mental Health Cross-Sector Taskforce which met for over a year.

When a Hilltop High School graduate reached out for counseling, she wasn’t just given a referral—she was wrapped in support. CAT helped her leave an abusive relationship, secure stable housing, childcare, and employment, and transition into Child-Parent Psychotherapy to strengthen her bond with her child. But the impact didn’t stop there. With ongoing encouragement, she began exploring a future in mental health work including a Wellness Coach certification, inspired by the support she received.

This is the power of Connect & Thrive: a young mother seeking help becomes a future healer, a family in crisis finds stability, a community grows stronger through shared resilience.

This case exemplifies Felton’s ability to seamlessly connect families with a network of supportive services, ensuring they receive high-quality, culturally responsive care that fosters both immediate stability and long-term opportunity.

Beyond Intervention: A Model for Community-Led Change
Connect and Thrive is more than a mental health program—it’s a movement toward community-driven transformation. By centering the voices of families as both service recipients and providers, we create a ripple effect of resilience that extends beyond individuals to entire neighborhoods. Our commitment is to not only stabilize families in times of crisis but to equip them with the tools and networks needed for lifelong success.

With the generous support of Crankstart, and in collaboration with partners like SFUSD Hilltop High School, and other cross-sector allies, Connect and Thrive is laying the groundwork for a future where families don’t just survive—they thrive.

This is what change looks like: when a single parent’s healing journey inspires her to lift others up, when the community becomes the caregiver, and when a generation of children grows up knowing they are safe, seen, and deeply loved.

This is Felton’s Connect & Thrive. And we’re just getting started.