Provide and share solutions that promote the well-being of children, young adults and families in need.
Jack and Ruth Eckerd founded Eckerd Connects as a way to help 25 children and their families get a second chance. Since that groundbreaking day back in 1968, Eckerd Connects has grown to help hundreds of thousands of clients get the second chance that everyone deserves.
Eckerd Connects is committed to not only providing the solutions that help struggling families thrive, but also sharing these solutions with others.
At Eckerd Connects, we believe providers and agencies alike are strongest when they are working together rather than apart on ways to improve long-term outcomes.
“Provide and share solutions that promote the well-being of children, young adults and families in need.” This is Eckerd Connects’ mission, Eckerd Connects’ lifework. It is the essence of almost five decades of caring, and it is the foundation of Eckerd Connects’ future.
Vision:
Having the opportunity to succeed is every child and young adult’s birthright, and it is Eckerd Connects’ vision that for each this opportunity becomes a reality.
Values:
We base our concepts upon a belief in God and respect for all. Every person is uniquely special and has inherent worth.
The client always comes first.
The first question is always, “Is it good for the client?” No matter the situation, the client’s needs–mind, body and spirit–always come first.
Services should focus on the family.
When a client needs help, the family needs help. Clients achieve greater long-term success when services and systems of care address the needs of the entire family.
Local communities must be engaged and empowered.
When a client’s local community is engaged in their care, the chance for success goes up. The best and most efficient systems of care are those that ensure the local community is empowered with the responsibility and resources to meet, at a local level, the needs of the client.
We hold ourselves accountable for achieving superior outcomes.
Our ultimate measure of success is how well our clients prosper after leaving our care. We embrace industry leading tools, systems and processes for measuring success and improving our outcomes.
We engage people from a strength-based perspective.
We focus on strengths rather than weaknesses when helping people reach their fullest potential, including our staff and the clients we serve.
We are good financial stewards. Every penny given to us by agencies, corporations, parents, donors and foundations is precious. Consequently, administrative overhead is kept reasonable so as to maximize resources on providing quality services.
We build strong and lasting partnerships.
We work in close partnership with the agencies and communities we serve to help them overcome their challenges. This means we are active listeners and problem solvers who build relationships based on trust, honesty and integrity.
We have the courage to innovate and change. The one constant in life is change, and innovation is the key to producing life-changing solutions. We are committed to innovation and when necessary changing ourselves individually, our organization and entire systems of care in the pursuit of providing more clients the second chance they deserve.
