Our History

1980s

The Institute officially became the St. Francis Center (SFC) in honor of Rev. Wendt’s favorite saint. Throughout the years, the Wendt Center has employed some of the most gifted and compassionate therapists in the field of trauma, grief and loss.

Word quickly spread of the St. Francis Center and the unique services being providing to the DC community. People reached out to Bill, looking for opportunities to support his efforts. This outpouring of encouragement led to the Center’s first Volunteer Program. Initially, volunteers helped in the office, answering phones, etc. Soon, however, volunteers began visiting clients who were dying and in need of companionship. What began more than 35 years ago as a few supporters who wanted to “help out” has transitioned into a thriving and committed Volunteer Program.

We were the first agency in the area to address the mental health issues affecting people living with HIV/AIDS. In 1986, SFC partnered with neighbors at the Community of Hagar in a shared effort to support loved ones of people dying in the AIDS epidemic. Soon after, the two programs united creating the St. Francis Center’s Friends Program. In the years following, we continued our commitment to people diagnosed with HIV and their caregivers, providing counseling, training, and education services throughout the region. In the late ’90s, in partnership with the Montgomery County Health Department, we staffed their public health clinic with grief counseling services for people living with HIV/AIDS. We also provided counseling and psychoeducation services to the clinical staff who were providing care for patients.

1990s

The Center launched its Children’s Program, catering to the specific needs of grieving children and teens. The success of this led to the development in 1997 of SFC’s School-Based Mourning Project, in which clinicians provided on-site group bereavement counseling to DC public school children and teens. Research on this model showed it to be an “evidence-based” practice and the results were published in 2002 in the Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, “The School-Based Mourning Project: A Preventive Intervention in the Cycle of Inner-City Violence.” The Three-Dimensional-Grief Group Model was created and then implemented in DC public, charter, parochial and private schools. Training and consultation on this model was provided to school counseling staff through the present as the grief group model continues to be implemented through our Resilient Scholars Project.

Throughout the 1990s the Center offered individual and group counseling services to children, youth and their families and then expanded services in 2000 to include another important children’s program, Camp Starfish. Soon renamed as Camp Forget-Me-Not, this annual, free therapeutic weekend camp for children and teenagers grieving the death of a loved one has provided children a special setting to share their grief experience and find hope. Dozens of volunteers and child grief therapists support this program every year. In 2009, the Center began partnering with the Eluna Network of national bereavement camps (formerly the Moyer Foundation) and changed the name to Camp Forget-Me-Not/Camp Erin DC.

In 1999, the Saint Francis Center continued is journey of growth and officially became the William Wendt Center for Loss and Healing, honoring Bill and his mission.

In late 1999, the Center developed and implemented the RECOVER program, a unique collaboration with the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to support those completing the decedent identification process. Wendt Center clinicians were available on-site seven days a week to assist families grieving the sudden and often traumatic death of a loved one. In 2000, the program model was disseminated to all state medical examiner and coroner’s offices. The program is no longer in operation because of changes in how the identification process is completed in D.C., but RECOVER remains a program of national significance as the first of its kind in the country.

2000s

The Wendt Center formally expanded our mission to include both grief and trauma, recognizing that many of the communities we work within are impacted by both.

We have continued to expand our services for people impacted by violence, such as a homicide death, sexual assault, or abuse. In partnership with the DC Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants, we provide free counseling services people of all ages who have experienced victimization regardless of ability to pay. In 2005, the Center consolidated its services to the many individuals and families impacted by homicide by naming its range of services the HOPES Program (Homicide Outreach Project Empowering Survivors). In addition, the Center assumed fiscal and program management in 2006 of the renamed DC Crisis Response Team, a group of over 60 community crisis response volunteers who were trained to provide community and in-home services to those grieving the homicide death of a loved one. We collaborated with other over 40 community and government partners to form the first-ever DC Homicide Coalition, bringing needed services for grieving families.

Our standing in the community as the leading provider of grief and trauma mental health care has made the Center a go-to crisis response resource. This work has varied and included providing on-site support to schools, government agencies, businesses, or community groups affected by a tragedy. We provided crisis response services in the aftermath of 9/11 (including serving on the 9/11 Survivor’s Fund Distribution Committee), the D.C. Sniper shootings, the Hurricane Katrina evacuee resettlement, the Navy Yard shooting, and other large-scale events.

In 2005, The Wendt Center became a member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a collaboration of centers across the country working together to advance treatment of child traumatic stress. Our collaboration with some of the most respected mental health professionals in the field has resulted in the development of education products for the public on traumatic grief and treatment models that enhance the care to children and families.

Continuous requests for our staff to conduct training led to the development of our Training and Education Program. This initiative provides one-of-a-kind grief and trauma education. Its services have been utilized by the national Teach for America organization, local government agencies, first response professionals, community mental health providers, school systems, law enforcement, and more.