The lasting impact of grandparents, in all forms Sunday marked National Grandparents' Day, which is a reminder of how deeply grandparents shape our lives. Treehouse resident Holly Handfield and Erika Kuester, Treehouse CEO, did an interview with Connecticut Public...

Erika Kuester will be the Treehouse Foundation’s next Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors announced Kuester’s appointment in mid-December, with the role effective January 1, 2025.

A new report focused on intentional intergenerational living communities spotlights Treehouse Foundation’s award-winning community model in support of children who have experienced foster care and their families.

In 1998, Judy Cockerton saw a newspaper article about a child who had been kidnapped while in foster care. She discussed the article with her husband and their two teenagers over dinner. It opened their eyes to the complex situations and disconnected lives that foster...

EASTHAMPTON — Big changes are coming to Easthampton nonprofit, the Treehouse Foundation, as founder and longtime leader Judy Cockerton steps away to explore a new chapter. As Treehouse sets its sights on expansion across the state, Cockerton is working on an entirely new project with a similar mission.

Easthampton, July 24, 2024 – The Treehouse Foundation is announcing a significant change in its leadership. Visionary Founder, Judy Cockerton, has stepped down from her role as CEO, marking the beginning of a new chapter for both her and Treehouse. Judy's decision to...

On Thursday, June 27, 2024, Judy Cockerton receives the Children First and Always Award, presented by the Center for Advanced Practice, Adoption Rhode Island. From Darlene Allen, MS, CEO and Executive Director, Adoption Rhode Island: "It is my pleasure to inform you...

EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The Treehouse Foundation along with Senator John Velis and Representative Dan Carey held a legislative breakfast for their colleagues.

Treehouse Foundation in Easthampton receives $2 million in ARPA funding
The goal was to celebrate the accomplishments of the foundation and to understand the effectiveness of the Treehouse’s intergenerational community model. The foundation works toward building communities for foster children where they can be guided by older adults who serve as role models.

EASTHAMPTON — Board members, volunteers and staff at the Treehouse Foundation have been walking with swagger in recent weeks thanks to significant statewide recognition for its intergenerational community in Easthampton Meadows.

Treehouse was described as an exemplary model of innovative intergenerational housing by researchers at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies in their report titled, “Bridging Health, Housing, and Generations: What the United States Might Learn From Germany’s Intentional Multigenerational Housing Demonstrations.”

Kathy Fitts loved her roomy house in suburban Atlanta. But after her children moved out, and the pandemic exacerbated the isolation she often felt as a divorced woman, she left for Latitude Margaritaville, a Jimmy Buffett-themed housing development in Daytona Beach, Fla., for those “55 and better.”

by Judy Cockerton “When a child goes into foster care, the government is looking after its greatest asset.”– Poet Lemn Sissay Or is it? Here in America, where the government spends $30 billion annually on foster care, nearly 25,000 young people “age out” of foster...

Nestled in the shadow of Mt. Tom in Easthampton, the Treehouse Community was founded to support families that take in foster children in the hopes of stopping the bounce through the system. Among the townhomes that house families who are fostering children, live...

A news story started it all. Judy Cockerton was moved to action after learning about a 5-month old foster child who had been kidnapped from his crib. She and her husband became foster parents themselves, but Cockerton wanted to do more. Knowing that not all families can bring foster children into their homes, she wanted to create other ways for people to help.

The 5-year-old boy in the green shirt with “Cool Little Bro” written across the chest had just thumped 81-year-old Mary Steele in the nose with a balloon. Steele, who was baby-sitting the excited child for his foster mother, stopped fast and flashed a look of mock surprise.

This Massachusetts Community Is working together to support a village of foster kids.

A vibrant multigenerational community supports foster parents and kids—and gives seniors with wisdom and time to spare the chance to be part of a loving extended clan.

Judy Cockerton greets me with a big grin, arms open wide. Cockerton is the founder of the Treehouse Foundation, an organization seeking to impact child welfare practice and promote investment in the nation’s foster and adopted youth through the development of...

IT’S ONLY MIDMORNING and already Mary Steele has given rides to one teen who missed the school bus and to another who needed to get to work at a nearby mall. Later, Steele, 82, plays trucks with a 5-year-old boy whose mother is at work.

A National United Way 30-minute docu-series about foster care on Oprah’s OWN Network Every year as many as 25,000 young people experiencing foster care in America “age out” of our foster care system alone, without any enduring family relationships or community...