T H E  S P U R W I N K  S T O R Y

Our 50-year tradition of caring and trust started with eight boys
and a radically simple idea.

What followed was nothing short of wonderful.

In Maine, in 1960, children with special needs and their families had few places to turn for help. Imagine the drama of watching your child struggle to be happy or calm or safe. Imagine a family’s frustration and sense of helplessness to see a child’s best efforts countered by behavioral, emotional, or developmental challenges. That was the setting for the beginning of Spurwink. It’s a story that began with the idea that maybe treatment for these children would be better in small, family-like settings instead of stark, impersonal institutions — that true caring and trust could be the solution to helping young people find a way to surmount their personal challenges. Each week this year, Spurwink will share many of its most heartening real-life stories right here on this page — stories that will surprise you, that will tug at your heart, make you laugh, and introduce you to the reality of lives nurtured, improved, and sometimes saved at Spurwink. We hope you’ll spend part of each Sunday with us this year to discover the touching and truly human story that is fifty years of Spurwink. Won’t you join us again next Sunday?

Download Spurwinkk's introduction story as a high-quality PDF

January stories...