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TRIANGLE FAMILY SERVICES Helping families in crisis for 80 years by SETTLE MONROE
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LIKE MOST PEOPLE WHO END UP AT TRIANGLE FAMILY SERVICES, MIKE Zayas never expected to be there. In fact, he’d never heard about the organization that has been helping families in crisis here for 80 years until he desperately needed its help. In 2006, the SAS engineer was enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with his family when he fell while skateboarding with his teenage son. The freak accident resulted in a traumatic brain injury that left Zayas in a coma for months. When he came out of the coma, the devastating effects of the injury led to a complicated and trying custody battle over his three children. Thanks to the work of Triangle Family Services, Zayas did not have to suffer alone, he was able to rebuild relationships with his children, and is now able to spend time with them on his own.
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MAKING FAMILIES WHOLE Triangle Family Services CEO Alice Lutz with Mike Zayas, who says Lutz “and all the people at Triangle Family Services are unbelievable.”
Triangle Family Services CEO Alice Lutz says stories like Zayas’s fuel her energy to build stronger community by strengthening families. “We help make families whole,” she says. “We get to do work that truly changes lives. Our programs help the individuals and families who come to us in their darkest hour.” No one plans to need a TFS program, Lutz points out. But when crisis arises, the organization serves as an indispensable safety net and support system. The results have a broad impact: “Our programs are also good for the larger community,” she says. “When families are healthy, communities thrive.” As TFS celebrates its 80th year, it is photograph by ELIZABETH GALECKE
