STARRY Counseling
Families are important, they shape and mold us throughout life. STARRY Counseling in Waco holds that in the forefront and focus as they make themselves available to nurture children, strengthen families and restore hope.
Starry began in the 1970s as an emergency shelter for children as a part of Texas Baptist Children's Home, expanding in the decades that followed into a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides trauma-informed care counseling, including crisis-intervention services and foster care and adoption services. Now they can be found in 32 counties across Texas. Services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include individual, family, and group counseling, along with child abuse prevention services.
Through providing counseling services at no cost to families with children in our city, they play a crucial role in making access to support behavioral health obtainable. STARRY focuses their services on a variety of needs that face our children, youth and parents. In addition, they work to provide hope and connection to families and children that are in the foster care and adoption process.
In light of COVID-19, Jessica Kilpatrick, STARRY's Chief Program Officer states, "We want to be a resource for families during these difficult times. Parents are stressed out and needing support to help them and their children navigate this new normal. STARRY Counselors and Family Support Specialist hope to share ideas with families on how to plan out their days and create a balance of structure and nurture. Some children are seeing increased anxiety and having behavioral problems due to all of the changes in their lives. We even have families who have lost their jobs and need someone to talk to about finding hope as they face financial strain. STARRY is here to nurture children, strengthen families, and restore hope, now more than ever."
During COVID-19, as our world approached April which brought National Child Abuse Prevention Month, STARRY played a crucial role offering support through a virtual platform through an initiative with Prosper Waco and other agencies that provide support to behavioral health into our city - once again creating much needed access to during a critical time. For more information on STARRY Counseling visit