About White Picket Fence Foundation
Since 2011, we have been dedicated to strengthening families in Mecklenburg County through comprehensive, evidence-based support services. What began as one social worker's response to a gap in local family services has grown into a multi-program organization serving thousands of families each year.
Why We Exist
The White Picket Fence Foundation exists to strengthen families in the Greater Charlotte region by providing comprehensive, accessible, and culturally responsive support services that address the root causes of family instability. We believe that every family — regardless of income, background, or circumstance — deserves access to the resources, education, and professional support they need to build a stable, healthy, and fulfilling life. Our name reflects not a nostalgic ideal but an aspirational commitment: that the security and belonging symbolized by a welcoming home should be attainable for every family in our community.
Our Vision
A Greater Charlotte region where every family has stable housing, confident parents, thriving children, and the financial security to weather life's challenges without losing ground.
Our Approach
Rather than addressing family needs in isolation, we take a wraparound approach that recognizes the interconnection between housing, education, finances, parenting, and mental health. A family cannot maintain stable housing without financial capability, and financial capability means little without emotional well-being and effective parenting. Our integrated service model coordinates across all these dimensions simultaneously.
Our Core Values
Family-Centered Care
Every decision, program design, and resource allocation starts with the family's self-identified needs and goals. We do not impose solutions; we partner with families to develop plans that reflect their priorities, strengths, and cultural context. The family unit — however it is defined — is our primary client, and children's well-being is our north star.
Evidence-Based Practice
Our programs are built on curricula and intervention models that have demonstrated effectiveness through peer-reviewed research and randomized controlled trials. Triple P, Circle of Security, the Financial Empowerment model, and Housing First principles are not trends; they are proven approaches with decades of outcome data supporting their efficacy with diverse populations.
Cultural Responsiveness
Charlotte is a diverse, rapidly growing city with families from across the globe. Our staff reflects the communities we serve, our materials are available in multiple languages, and our clinical approach acknowledges the role that culture, immigration experience, racial identity, and generational history play in shaping family dynamics and help-seeking behavior.
Community Collaboration
No single organization can address every dimension of family well-being. We maintain active partnerships with 87 community organizations, government agencies, healthcare providers, schools, and faith institutions to ensure seamless referral pathways and reduce duplication of services. Collaboration is not an add-on; it is fundamental to how we operate.
Empowerment Over Dependency
Our goal is to make ourselves unnecessary in each family's life. We provide scaffolding — not crutches. Every program is designed with clear milestones and a graduation pathway that builds the family's own capacity to navigate systems, manage resources, and access support independently. We measure success not by how long families stay in our programs but by how well they do after they leave.
Transparent Accountability
As stewards of public trust and donor investment, we maintain rigorous financial controls, publish annual impact reports with independently verified data, submit to annual external audits, and make our Form 990 available upon request. Our 11.4% administrative cost ratio reflects our commitment to directing maximum resources to direct family services.
The Founding Story
In 2010, Catherine Millbrook was a senior clinical social worker at Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, managing a caseload of 40 families navigating intersecting crises of housing loss, child welfare involvement, and economic hardship. Day after day, she saw the same pattern: families were referred to one program at a time — a food bank here, a housing waitlist there, a parenting class across town — with no coordination, no follow-up, and no recognition that these challenges were interconnected and needed to be addressed simultaneously.
"I watched families fall through the cracks between programs," Catherine recalls. "A mother would get emergency rental assistance from one agency, but then lose her job because she had no childcare. She'd get a childcare subsidy, but by then the landlord had already filed for eviction. The system was treating symptoms in silos while families were experiencing a single, compounding crisis."
In June 2011, Catherine left county government, drew on her personal savings, recruited three founding board members, and filed articles of incorporation for the White Picket Fence Foundation. Operating from a donated office space on South Boulevard with a staff of one, she began accepting referrals from her former DSS colleagues and providing the kind of holistic, follow-through-driven family support she had spent years wishing existed. The first year, she served 47 families. The second year, 128. By the time WPFF received its first United Way allocation in 2017, the organization had grown to serve over 600 families annually with a staff of eight.
Today, WPFF operates from a 4,200-square-foot office on Park Road, employs a staff of 19 full-time and 6 part-time professionals, coordinates 347 active volunteers, and serves more than 3,200 families per year across six comprehensive program areas. The founding vision remains unchanged: every family in Charlotte deserves a foundation strong enough to weather life's storms.
Executive Team
Catherine Millbrook, LCSW
Founder & Executive DirectorCatherine holds a Master of Social Work from UNC Chapel Hill and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (NC License #C-8247) with 22 years of family systems intervention experience. Prior to founding WPFF, she served as Senior Clinical Social Worker at Mecklenburg County DSS (2003–2011) and completed a clinical fellowship at Duke University's Center for Child and Family Policy. She is a certified Triple P practitioner and serves on the advisory board of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Foundation's Family Strengthening Initiative.
James Okafor, MSW
Director of ProgramsJames oversees day-to-day operations across all six WPFF program areas. He holds a Master of Social Work from Howard University with a concentration in community organization and social administration. Before joining WPFF in 2016, James managed youth development programs at Communities in Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. He is a certified Circle of Security facilitator and brings particular expertise in serving immigrant and refugee families.
Dr. Patricia Huang, PhD
Director of Clinical PartnershipsDr. Huang manages WPFF's 14-provider counseling referral network and supervises the clinical quality of all therapeutically informed programming. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in family therapy at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York. She is licensed as a psychologist in North Carolina (NC License #4891) and maintains active research collaborations with UNC Charlotte's Department of Psychology.
Linda Vasquez
Director of DevelopmentLinda leads WPFF's fundraising, corporate partnerships, and community engagement strategy. With 15 years of nonprofit development experience, she previously served as Major Gifts Officer at the United Way of Central Carolinas and Development Director at the Latin American Coalition. Linda holds a BA in Communications from Appalachian State University and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. Under her leadership, annual revenue has grown 68% since 2020.
Board of Directors
Our volunteer board of directors provides strategic governance, fiduciary oversight, and community connection. Board members serve three-year terms with a two-term limit and meet quarterly with additional committee work throughout the year.
Organizational Timeline
Catherine Millbrook incorporates WPFF as a 501(c)(3). First office on South Boulevard. 47 families served in year one with a staff of one.
First formal program area established with Mecklenburg County DSS partnership. Emergency rental assistance and landlord mediation services begin.
WPFF becomes an accredited Triple P delivery site. First parenting cohort enrolls 18 parents. Circle of Security added six months later.
Selected as a United Way of Central Carolinas partner agency, providing annual operating support and visibility. Revenue surpasses $500,000 for the first time.
Child Enrichment and Counseling Referral Network programs formally launched. After-school tutoring begins at two CMS school sites. Staff grows to 12.
WPFF celebrates a decade of service and surpasses 2,000 cumulative families served. Relocates to current Park Road office with expanded community room.
Eight-week Financial Empowerment Workshop Series and IDA matched savings program debut. First cohort graduates 42 participants with average $4,200 annual savings increase.
Sixth program area added with rapid-response crisis framework. 203 family emergencies responded to in inaugural year. Total families served surpasses 3,200 annually.
Licensing & Accreditations
WPFF maintains full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local nonprofit regulations. Our clinical programming meets or exceeds standards set by accrediting bodies for each evidence-based curriculum we deliver.