Asia Butler, 33, has been determined to provide stability for her five children by furthering her career. After finishing a dental assisting program last year, the Kent, Washington, resident decided to take the next step and complete her prerequisites for dental hygiene.
But years of commitment to her education journey have brought another massive responsibility: figuring out child care for her young kids.
Butler lost her husband in 2022, two years after their family relocated from New Orleans to the Seattle area, where she found few options for full-time day care in Kent. In 2023, she learned about the nonprofit Kent Youth and Family Services through a preschool.
The organization specializes in counseling, education and other support for adolescents and their loved ones. Among its initiatives are early learning and after-school programs, as well as mental health services.
Since Butler and her family became clients of KYFS, the nonprofit has provided them with much more than child care. It has improved her children’s development and built a support system, setting them up for success.
“Each of my kids that have been in the program have needed support in different ways,” Butler said in a phone interview. “They were able to meet them where they were and make sure that they adjusted. Now, it’s like they’re doing great in school. They love it.”
The social service agency is one of the 13 nonprofits supported by reader donations to the Seattle Times Fund for Those in Need. This year, the Times’ annual holiday fundraiser aims to collect $3 million in donations.
‘Our goal is to never turn anybody away’
For 56 years, KYFS has endured as a community pillar.
The organization was founded in 1970 by local residents and parents in the Kent School District, who sought to create more resources, said Ashley Gregory, community engagement and marketing director.
She estimates that, today, the nonprofit – made up of about 120 employees – serves around 2,200 kids annually.
“Our mission is to help people reach their goals for a better future,” Gregory said. “A lot of the ways we’re doing that is by kind of helping with some of these immediate needs, so that kids can focus on learning, focus on their mental well-being and really move into healthier spaces.”
The nonprofit provides mental health care, with counseling available for participants up to 25 years old and their family members in South King County and nearby areas. It is mostly funded through Medicaid, though KYFS uses subsidies, grants and partnerships to ensure people in need can receive those services.
“Our goal is to never turn anybody away,” Gregory said in a phone interview.
The Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Program targets parents and children through 5 years old, while the Perinatal Mental Health Program is for expecting and new parents.
Support groups include the LGBTQ+ youth group, a free drop-in group held weekly. It is the organization’s longest-running group and has needed more support as of late, Gregory said.
An initial area of focus for the organization’s counselors and therapists was serving youths seeking substance abuse disorder treatment, which was then offered at Kent School District schools. It remains one of the largest programs at KYFS, Gregory said.
Now, it includes 26 counselors and 10 interns, with in-school services expanded to Renton and Sumner-Bonney Lake school districts, Executive Director Trista Helvey said. More than 1,100 clients were served over the first three quarters of 2025 through the behavioral health program.
The nonprofit’s substance use disorder counseling is available for youth ages 11 to 24. Clients with mental health and substance use challenges can turn to co-occurring disorders counseling.
Separately, Gregory highlighted the early learning program as the largest initiative at KYFS in terms of staff and the number of children regularly served on a weekly basis. It spans 21 classrooms and six sites.
The initiative incorporates preschool learning for low-income children ages 3 to 5 in the Kent School District, along with family support, such as job placement and rent resources.
But the early learning program is not immune to ongoing macroeconomic squeezes.
While the Head Start Program is federally funded, the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program is state funded. Due to state budget cuts, KYFS was forced to eliminate 40 spots from its early learning program this school year, Gregory said.
Still, “we’re helping fill voids and create just safer communities – for not just the kids that we’re serving but the families,” Gregory said. “Community support has been how we’ve gotten this far in being able to have the kind of impact we’ve had.”
Building connections with students
Every Monday through Thursday, Melissa Pravalpott has a plan in place for her students, ages 3 to 5, at KYFS.
At the start of each day, Pravalpott, who is the lead teacher for the nonprofit’s Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Programs, commutes from her home in Lynnwood to her workplace in Kent.
Before her students arrive, she sets the tables and prepares the classroom. Then, Pravalpott welcomes her morning group. As part of the program’s focus on oral health and nutrition education, the kids eat breakfast and brush their teeth together.
After they play outside, it’s back indoors for music and movement. The students gather in small groups for individual teaching time before breaking for lunch.
Once the first set of children heads home, Pravalpott repeats the agenda with her afternoon class.
Pravalpott, who has worked at KYFS for over a decade, was drawn to the nonprofit’s mission and values when she first applied.
“It just really gives me an opportunity to really, truly connect with families on a more personal level,” she said in a phone interview.
Her goal as a teacher: to lay down positive foundations for education before her students age out of the program.
“There’s a lot of people who do have negative experiences with education, so we try to build that bridge and build that relationship,” she said.
Some of her students are trying to better understand their disabilities.
Each child goes through screenings and assessments at the beginning of the program, with instructors observing them throughout the year to gauge their progress. If a student experiences any developmental lags, Pravalpott quickly consults their parents and partners with referral services to secure the proper support.
For Butler, that’s been a game changer. Pravalpott has taught the two youngest of Butler’s five children.
Butler explained that her daughter suffered severe anxiety in the classroom, and the first six months took some adjusting. Butler and Pravalpott worked together to put her at ease.
Butler also noticed some delays with her son. She said Pravalpott took her concerns seriously, and they’re moving forward with relevant evaluations.
At KYFS, some students are learning English as a second language. Pravalpott instructs a multicultural classroom, with children hailing from all corners of the globe – Afghanistan, Vietnam, Mexico and Russia among them.
In a phone call, Pravalpott reflected on one child, a Punjabi-speaking boy. As she remembers it, his mother relayed her fears that he might not make friends because he didn’t understand English.
But recently, when they met for a parent-teacher conference, that mom had good news to share: She’d since noticed her son’s grasp of English was improving substantially – and he was exhibiting more caring and nurturing qualities, too.
For Pravalpott, those moments mean the world. Teaching can sometimes leave her feeling burned out, and she’s caught herself wondering if she’s making a difference.
Interactions like that prove to her that she is.
“Every day, every little victory, every hug, every smile, every laugh,” Pravalpott said, “it builds that connection.
