Our History:

The Parenting Cottage was founded in 1982 to serve special needs children. The original Board of Directors included Louise Cummins, Helen Lou Conner, Gloria Galey, Ed Irons, Dr. Richard Katnik, Roderick L. Shaw and Jane Tustin. The acronym COTTAGE stood for Center Offering Therapy, Training, Assistance and Group Education. Originally housed in Seaman Hall through the assistance of the Episcopal Diocese, the Parenting Cottage received a generous gift from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation in 1985 to provide the current facility. In 1995, a Parenting Cottage Task Force recommended the expansion of services to include all children and families seeking support and parent education. Home visitation services were added and in 1998 as a recipient of a community block grant services were added for at risk families. The program was recognized as a "Best Practice" program. Programs at the Parenting Cottage have been generously supported over the years by the CH Foundation of Lubbock, Diekemper Family Foundation, E.A. Franklin Trust, Helen Jones Foundation, Junior League of Lubbock, Lubbock Area Foundation and the Meadows Foundation. Today, the Parenting Cottage is a proud Lubbock Area United Way partner agency and provides services to address a broad range of community needs and serves approximately 250-300 unduplicated families annually.

Our Mission:

To strengthen and meet the needs of families across the community by providing hope, education, resources and encouragement (HERE).