Help Us Bring Our Early Learning Kitchen Back Online

Fueling Futures Starts in the Kitchen.

Innovative Services NW is a nonprofit that has served Clark County for over 60 years. Every day, we support vulnerable children, families, and people across our community through early learning, pediatric therapy, and employment services.

Our Early Learning program, which opened in 1985, specializes in serving children ages 1 to 5 with special needs and from low-income and trauma-impacted families. Currently, 92% of the children served by this kitchen come from low-income households. For many of them, the hot, nutritious meals we serve are a vital part of their daily care.

RIGHT NOW, OUR KITCHEN IS PARTIALLY SHUTDOWN AS WE SEEK FUNDING FOR REQUIRED UPGRADES.

A young girl sitting at a desk in a classroom, eating an orange.

Following a February 25th inspection by the City of Vancouver Fire Marshal, we were informed that our kitchen hood system is no longer up to code. To comply with fire safety regulations, we cannot use our stovetops until we install a new commercial-grade hood with fire suppression. While we can still use our oven, this limits our ability to prepare the hot, nutritious meals our children and families rely on.

Because our kitchen is in the center of our three-story building, there is no direct ventilation path to the roof. Installing the new system requires tunneling through all three floors, a complex and costly project that must be completed before we can use our stovetops again.

THE TOTAL PROJECT COST IS $290,928.

Thanks to previous fundraising efforts for a broader kitchen upgrade, we have already secured some funding, but we still need to raise more than $200,000 to bring this project to life.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Our kitchen plays a vital role in nurturing the whole child. It fuels healthy development, supports learning, and provides consistency and care that many of our children do not have at home. Nutritious meals served in a safe, welcoming environment are part of the stability we work hard to create daily.

What makes Innovative uniquely equipped to serve? Our Early Learning program shares space with our Pediatric Therapy and Neurodevelopmental Center, allowing therapists to provide integrated care in the classroom. We also use complex needs grants to bring in mental health specialists who support our staff and children daily.

Installing the new kitchen hood will also allow us to expand capacity by 26 spots — reaching even more children who need a strong start.