MIYFS has served Island residents since 1973. It became a City Department in 1976. In 1989, the MIYFS Foundation was established to raise private funding to augment the services funded by the City of Mercer Island.

MIYFS Foundation funding is critical to the breadth and quality of services MIYFS can deliver. It provided about 10% of the funding for the MIYFS social services operating budget in 2018, as well as special project funding in the amount of $119,165.

All Thrift Shop sales directly support only MIYFS programs. Shop revenues are the largest source of funding for Youth and Family Services and gross sales for 2018 were close to 1.6 million dollars. The Thrift Shop continues to grow and is slated to remain the largest source of funds for the Department in coming two biennia.

Each summer, seven days a week, VOICE participants and staff gather at the brick building in Luther Burbank park as they prepare to load into vans and head out to service projects. Groups leave throughout the day, to accommodate the different needs of our nonprofit partners and provide additional scheduling flexibility to our volunteers. Prior to heading to the project site, staff review with Island youth the respective project’s work along with background of the organization’s work. Staff work alongside youth ensuring they are available for questions and supervision. Debriefing occurs after the project, often on the way home in the van.