2010 Annual Report Celebrating 25 Years
2010 Gingerbread Festival
2010 Board of Directors Elizabeth L. Adams Bill Boyle, M.D. Mary Brown, Chair Elizabeth Chabot, Secretary Marie Colacchio Michael Horvath, Treasurer Beth Kolehmainen Ashley Milliken Leslie Potter Arline S. Rotman Peter Rutledge Kathleen O. Snyder, Vice Chair Posie Taylor Jack Wilson
Letter from the Board Chair & Executive Director This year, The Family Place is celebrating 25 years of service to families with young children in the Upper Valley! Our commitment remains true to our original mission - helping every young child have the same chance of success in life. All of our work is informed by years of experience and research indicating that a child’s opportunity to thrive starts at birth, and depends more on family circumstances than on any other factor. For a young child, the single largest threat to succeeding is poverty. By age 4, low-income children are already 18 months behind their more advantaged peers. Without engaged parents, a nourishing diet and a stimulating, stable environment starting at birth, at-risk children enter kindergarten behind academically and emotionally. Very few are able to catch up. Recognizing that the best way to narrow the achievement gap is to prevent it from forming, a year ago, our committed board of directors launched a capital campaign so that we could expand services to the most vulnerable children and families, including those struggling with poverty, child maltreatment and developmental delays. In the current economic times, this is no small challenge but we persist because we know that investing in at-risk children from the time they are born leads to positive outcomes for those children, for their families, for our community. Thanks to your support, families are reaping the benefits of increased services and improved facilities.
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Looking to the future, we are pleased to be able to expand Families Learning Together, our research based best practice program for young parents and their infants and toddlers living with poverty, from 2 to 4 days a week. This means more intensive education, job skills, and parenting support for parents and quality child care for their infants and toddlers. We are also improving our response to child maltreatment with the development of the Special Investigative Unit for Sex Crimes for Windsor County. Finally, we are strengthening the skills of our staff with training that leads to improved services for children and families. Thanks to your support, we will be able to help all children have a chance to reach their full potential. What happens in their early years can matter for a lifetime.
Sincerely,
Mary Brown
Chair, The Family Place Board
Elaine Guenet
Executive Director, The Family Place
2010 Annual Report
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Making a Difference in 2010 and Beyond Karen lost her two teenage children to state custody. “My son was having some pretty dangerous behavioral outbursts” she says. “I needed some help.” She got that help from Kelly Wallace, a family educator at The Family Place, after she was referred to the center by the state Department for Children and Families (DCF). “Kelly came once a week, to the house,” Karen says. “ We did a lot of talking. When your kids are in custody of the state, there are a lot of things you need to follow through on, to accomplish, to show them you can be a good parent, you can take care of your family. Kelly worked with me for well over a year. She went with me to meetings at my son’s school. She helped get him into an alternative school program. She went with me to meetings at DCF. She would call to remind me of meetings. She gave me a lot of information. She was there for emotional support, too.” “I was very comfortable with her,” Karen adds. “She has a way - you can see she has a love for families and children. I never felt her judging me, she just worked with me. She said, ‘I realize how hard things are. We’ll work on this. We’ll get through this together. You’re a strong woman, you can do it. Just do all that they want you to do.’ I couldn’t possibly have done it all without her.” Karen did get through the process, and did bring her children home. “It’s kind of a success story,” she says. “If I hadn’t taken the state’s advice to reach out to The Family Place, I wouldn’t be with my son or my daughter. It’s really important, the work they do here.” 2
The Family Place
1,100 families with young children come to The Family Place each year for parenting, life and job skills. 700 are low-income. The Family Place helps over 180 infants and toddlers a year develop to their full potential. Through home visits, The Family Place nurtures more than 400 healthy parent-child relationships per year in the family’s own environment. The Family Place provides intensive parenting and life skills for 16 low-income, young mothers with care for their infants and toddlers. The Family Place helps over 60 children each year overcome the trauma of sexual abuse. The Family Place provides a range of family supports to help families through whatever challenges they face. These supports fit the needs of individual families and focus on the parent-child relationship.
2010 Accomplishments “The Family Place connects people with services they might not even know they need, or are eligible for. Families feel safe here. Mothers and children feel comfortable here. Families learn they can receive what they need here through various programs like Families Learning Together or playgroups. They can get connected. You cannot solve problems such as teen parenthood or dropping out of school in a doctor’s office or clinic. You need people who are in the community ready to help, so families have a place to go to receive the services they need.” - Dr. Bill Boyle, pediatrician and founder of the Boyle Community Pediatrics Program at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Our new building, Olcott House, opened this year. It made a dramatic difference in our ability to serve families. Our family meeting room was used regularly for parent discussion groups and our consultation rooms provided private meeting spaces for child and family conferences. Having a dedicated work space for our jewelry worksite made it easier for parents to learn and practice job skills. We opened a licensed infant-toddler child care center to serve the children of low-income mothers who attend our Families Learning Together program. Our new center was awarded the maximum number of STARS for a program in its first year, demonstrating a high level of quality per standards set by Vermont’s quality rating system. We trained our home visitors and center-base staff in Foundations of Early Learning, honing their skills to facilitate early language and social emotional development in young children. As a result, over 400 children, ages birth to three, will experience responsive services proven to build foundations for school success. Staff revised assessment procedures for parents in Families Learning Together to include use of the Adverse Childhood Experience Screening Tool. This tool tallies the number of childhood traumas that parents have experienced before the age of 18. As a result, we were able to provide early detection and treatment as indicated for each family. We worked with the state’s attorney’s office, law enforcement, and child protection to establish a Special Investigative Unit for Sex Crimes for Windsor County and create a new Child Advocacy Center in the southern part of the county. The new center assures that the response to each child victim of sexual assault in Windsor County is unified, multi-disciplinary and child-centered regardless of where the child lives. More than 150 community members attended events at our center and at the homes of board members, celebrating 25 years of service and learning about accomplishments and future plans. Featured speakers included parents, area pediatrician Dr. Bill Boyle, former legislator Ann Seibert, and former Hanover Inn Manager, Carl Pratt. These events have expanded our base of community support. 2010 Annual Report
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Home and Center Support “ When we first came, it was just me and him,” one mother says of Families Learning Together. She did not want to be apart from her little boy. “I was afraid they would send him off to some play area. But the first couple of months we were here, I was with him. Little by little, the people here gave me the strength to trust other people to take care of him the way I would want to take care of him. That allowed me to build my trust in others so I could get ready to put him in day care and go back to work.” - Young Mother
Helping parents and children in settings that best meet their needs. Research shows that to truly help a child, you must find a way to engage the parent(s), for parents are critical to their child’s growth and progression. We focus on building strong parent-child relationships. By reaching families when their children are very young, we help parents become confident and capable of raising healthy, happy children.
Home Visiting
Nurturing healthy parent-child relationships in the family’s own environment Home visiting is an integral part of our effort to reach families early. Home visits provide a unique opportunity to strengthen families, especially those who face multiple social and economic challenges. Home visitors nurture the parent- child relationship, helping parents anticipate the child’s developmental stages and respond effectively to the various challenges that those stages can present. In this way, relationships become the vehicle for change. Our home visiting programs weave together a combination of child development and family supports to produce positive outcomes for Upper Valley parents and their children.
Number of Families Served in their Homes: 424
On Site
Responding to parenting needs in a welcoming, family-focused center
We welcome families with different needs at our center, where we offer a rich array of parenting supports. Raising young children is delightful, challenging, exhausting, and exhilarating. All parents encounter questions along the way. Families can rely on us for answers to immediate questions as well as for support for long term struggles. From our Infant-Toddler playgroups, parenting classes, and resource library to our intensive program for parents in poverty, with licensed child care and transportation, we’re here partnering with parents in doing their very best for their children.
Number of Families Served in our Center: 240 4
The Family Place
Child Development Services Responding to developmental concerns as early as possible to reduce the impact of delays. Helping children achieve their full potential starts at birth. When parents have concerns, it is critical to respond as soon as possible. Infants and toddlers with developmental delays, or at risk of developing delays, have a better chance of needing less assistance and being able to succeed in school, if they get supports early.
What are Child Development Services? Our child development services focus on children birth to age three. Through information obtained from parents, observations, and the use of play-based assessment tools, we help families discover their children’s strengths and areas for growth. If a child is determined to be experiencing a delay or has a condition likely to result in a delay, we offer individualized therapy and support, including counseling, physical, and occupational or speech therapy. Our developmental educators travel throughout northern Windsor and Orange County, Vermont to bring suggestions and activities to families’ homes.
What are the results? · Catching problems early provides a platform for children to build on strengths to offset delays. · Early information and support for parents strengthens their ability to meet their children’s needs. · Early intervention improves school readiness and success.
“The Family Place pulled everybody together and we got every kind of service we needed. People would come to us and they would do what our son needed.”
· Early intervention decreases costs for special education and related services in later years.
- Norwich Parent 2010 Annual Report
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Child Advocacy Center Addressing maltreatment in a child-friendly environment where the child’s needs come first. At the Child Advocacy Center specially trained professionals from many disciplines meet to discuss and make decisions about the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases. They monitor progress and work to prevent further victimization of children.
What is a Child Advocacy Center? A Child Advocacy Center is a child-focused, facilitybased program addressing the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases.
“The Family Place was the bright light at the end of that dark tunnel.” - Mother of Child Victim
What are the results? · The trauma experienced by abused children is reduced. · Children receive prompt medical and mental health treatment tailored to their specific needs and family situations. · Allegations of abuse are more completely investigated, producing more usable information. · An increased number of offenders are held accountable. · More effective decisions are made possible by sharing professional knowledge and expertise. · Decisions to prosecute are based on input from the child and family as well as other professionals acting on their behalf.
Ages of Children Interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center Ages 7-12
Number of Interviews
Ages 0-6
Year 6
The Family Place
Ages 13-17
Families Learning Together “I got pregnant at 17,” says Katie, who’s now a 21-year-old mother of two taking part in Families Learning Together. “The Family Place has made it a lot less challenging than it would be if I were doing this on my own,” Katie says. “I have resources. I tell people all the time, ‘It’s like a family here.’” “At the beginning, I struggled a lot,” Katie says. “I did not want to be here. I was angry, and I was emotionally withdrawn. Now, I’m more open with people. I trust everyone here. They know my kids, they know everything that’s going on with me. It’s a whole ‘nother family.” Research shows that teen pregnancy tends to grow out of difficult family and living situations, and to be passed on from one generation to the next. A key goal of Families Learning Together is to help young moms create new, positive family lives, and to break the generational cycle. “I don’t want my boys to go through half of the stuff that I went through,” Katie reflects. “They have dreams. I don’t ever want them to lose theirs. I want them to go for it. I kind of let my dreams go. Now I’ve started to get them back.”
Shifting the odds in favor of young children whose success is at risk. For most families, the only real solution to long-term multiple hardships is employment that pays a livable wage and provides health benefits. Unfortunately children’s bodies and brains cannot wait for the economy to generate better paying jobs. They are growing now and if they do not get the care and nutrition they need, many will suffer life-long health and developmental consequences. Five years ago, guided by research and proven practice, The Family Place established a new program to address the problems faced by young mothers living in poverty with infants and toddlers: Families Learning Together.
What is Families Learning Together? Families Learning Together is a family and child-centered program that provides education, life skills, job skills, nutrition and parenting guidance. By connecting young parents with a team of caring adults, we create stable relationships that form the basis for growth and change. We reach young mothers and their children early so that we can address needs, eliminate barriers and narrow the achievement gap between these low-income children and their more advantaged peers.
What are the results? · Parents complete their education, obtain driver’s licenses, and enter the workforce. · Parents practice positive discipline and good nutrition. · Parents gain effective communication and leadership skills. · Children are on track to develop to their full potential. · Children’s overall health improves. 2010 Annual Report
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2010 By The Numbers Income - $1,587,838 State & Federal - $916,442 United Way - $12,635 Medicaid Billing - $161,774 Capital Campaign - $258,229 Fundraising - $156,161 Town Appropriations - $11,900 JewelryOs Income - $23,124 Program Revenue - $47,573
Expenses - $1,330,465 Management & Operating - $130,360 Fundraising - $88,763 On-Site Services - $447,927 Home Visiting - $663,412
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The Family Place
Our Wonderful Donors ANNUAL FUND Liz and Clay Adams · Linda and Rocco Addante · Jim and Brooke Adler · Bill and Betty Ann Aldrich · Roberta & Watt Alexander · Brenton and Jamie Anderson · K. Sandra Anderson and Reeve C. Williams · Anonymous Donors · Sanford and Katariina Anstey · Larry and Jane Armstrong · Winslow and Nancy Arnold · Robert and Deb Ashton · Steven Bachner and Janet E. Matz · Chris and Christine Bailey-Kellogg · Ken Baker and Judith Reeve · Barbara Ragle Barnes · Christine and Donald Bartlett · Jane Batten · LaVonne Batalden · Ronald Bean · William Beinecke · Mark and Laura Beliveau · Roberta Bell · Steve and Cinny Bensen · Justin and Laura Berman · James and Judith Bernat · Debra Birenbaum · Mark and Katherine Blanchard · Liz Blum and Nelson Kasfir · Leeli Bonney · James Boyd · Bill and Susan Boyle · Colleen Bozuwa · Bob Brack · Jinny Brack and Clay Block · Ted and Sallie Brophy · Bob Brown · Mary and Scott Brown · William and Mary Carson · Peter and Debbie Carter · Elizabeth and William Chabot · Marianne Chabot · Robert and Kate Chamberlin · Steve Chapman and Cathy Shubkin · Sarah and J.E. Chapoton · Michael A. Choukas · Mike and Nita Choukas · Jeff and Nicole Chu · Tom and Andrea Ciardelli · David and Ann Cioffi · Susan Cohen · Kathleen Coughlin · Carolyn and Joseph Cravero · Fred and Sophia Crawford · Robert and Marilyn Crichlow · Edward and Ann Darling · KJ Dell’Antonia & Rob Seelig · Melville Dickenson · Mary Dickson · Frank and Gail Dolan · Robert and Mary Donin · Margo and Paul Doscher · Marianne and Brian Doyle · Martha Drake · Barney Dwyer · Pat and Shirley Dyer · Beckie Eakin · William R. Epply · Thomas Evans · Dorann Farrell · Charles and Charlotte Faulkner · Chad and Susan Finer · Sam and Liz Fisher · Michael and · Marjorie Fitzsimons · Mary Ellen Flanagan · Daisy Fletcher · John and Elisabeth Fogarty · Jim Fowle · Fraternal Order of Eagles #3765 · Milton and Carolyn Frye · John and Dori Galton · James Garard · Paul and Fran Gardent · Elsa Garmire and Robert Russell · Bill and Kathy Geraghty · Janet Goldberger and Jeffrey Salloway · Martha Graber · Mary Greene · Rod Griffin and Kay McCabe · Elaine Guenet and Luke Fisher · Rob Gurwitt and Karen Harris · Jerry and Laurie Halpern · Linda Harper · Susan Harper and Chris Nice · John and Fiona Heaney · Marcia and Samuel Hellman · Janet Hickey · Patricia Higgins and Scott Drysdale · Harry and Louise Hill · Joseph and Jean Holman · Jan Hopkins · Robert and Janet Howard · Laban Jackson · Jim and Ann James · Brenda R. Johnson · Howdy and Barbara Johnston · Julie Kalish · Karen Kayen and Terry Boone · Jim and Elaine Kearns · Denis Kelemen and Joanne Foulk · Larry and Rainie Kelley · Preston and Virginia Kelsey · Susan Kirincich and Charles Wooster · John and Phyllis Kirwan · Ron and Sara Kobylenski · Richard and Beth Kolehmainen · Peter and Diana Krass · Toby and Jennifer Kravitz · Jennifer and Justin Krawitt · Toni LaMonica & Larry Young · Jan and Gordon B. Lankton · Greg and Teri LaRock · Drs. Lawrence and Linda Dacey · E. Lawrence and Margaret Keys · Mr. and Mrs. Julian LeCraw · Lee and David Lemal · Mrs. J. F. Lenzner · Kimberly Leute · Dianne Levine · Robert Lieder · George and Dominique Lightbody · Mary Lincoln · George and Carol Little · Margaret D. Little · Nina Lloyd · M/M Howard Logan · Charles W. Bohi · Sydney Long and Scott Kalter · Laurel Mackin and Tim Briglin · Paul and Wendy Manganiello · Donald and Alison May · Stuart and Nina McCampbell · John and Sally McDougall · Marlene McDonald · Terry McDonnell · Michael McGean · Scott and Catherine McGee · Leo C. McKenna · The McKeowns · Peter J McLaughlin and Jane Kitchel McLaughlin Family Fund · Bruce and Susan McLaughry · John and Joan Meader · Methodist Church of Lebanon · Peter and Carolyn Mertz · Eric Miller and Brooke Herndon · William and Margaret Montgomery · John and Kay Morton · Peter and Ellen Mulvihill · Craig Nalen · Eugene and Candace Nattie · Harry and Sylvia Nelson · Caroline Newcomb · Bob and Fran Nye · James B. O’Brien Jr. · James O’Brien III and Cathy Lines · Kip and Judy Oberting · John and Virginia Olszewski · Bill and Nancy Osgood · Dave and June Parrish · Don and Abbie Penfield · Dale and Mindy Penny · Susan Peterman · Henry and Cheryl Peterson · Jane and John Phipps · Bill and Liz Pierce · Janne and Win Piper · Mary and Robert Piro · Sue and Bob Pitiger · Steve and Becky Powell · Robert and Sharon Racusin · Ernest and Myradean Ransome · Ned and Cathie Redpath · Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey B. Reed · Will and Bev Reed · Bob and Nancy Rosenblum · Margaret and Robert Runnette · Robert and Andrea Sand · Nannette and Joseph Schwartzman · Molly Scheu · John and Jill Schiffman · Mark C. Schleicher · Richard and Peggy Schlein · Marvin and Mary Schouten · Richard Scott · Geoffrey and Genie Shields · John Sienkiewicz · Emily Silver · Jacqueline Y. Smith · Mark and Martia Smith · Kathleen and Bob Snyder · Stephen and Laurel Spielberg · Mark Splaine and Joyce DeLeo · Jacqueline Springwater · John Stahler Family · Richard and Caroline Steele · Marcia K. Stone · Pegge Strickler · Kris and Judith Strohbehn · Lee Stuart · Richard and Melinda Stucker · Matthew and Tanya Swett · Virginia Syer · Mark and Martha Tecca · Tom and Anne Tetreault · Barbara J. Thompson · George and Lynn Tidman · Micaela Tucker & Daniel Weintraub · Margaret and Henry Valentine · Dirk Van Leeuwen · Jodi and Tim VanLeer · Suzanne and Graham Wallis · Daniel and Teri Walsh · Bruce and Marion Waters · Jim and Mimi Weinstein · Craig and Holly Westling · Huntley and Lynne Whitacre · Doug and Leslie Williamson · Jack and Anne Wilson · Joan Wilson · Sherman and Maureen Wilson · Jim and Betsy Wooster · Bob and Jane Wright · Jim and Susan Wright · Rosalie and William Wyman · William and Patricia Young · Sam and Doris Zappala · Bob and Anne Zelle FOUNDATIONS Barrette Family Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation - Upper Valley Region · Blandina Rojek 1997 Charitable Lead Trust · The Boyle Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation · Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund · Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation · John M. Shapiro Charitable Trust · The Kettering Family Foundation · Mascoma Savings Bank Foundation · Children’s Fund of the Upper Valley of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation-Upper Valley Region · OSilas Foundation · The Page Hill Foundation, Inc. · The Salmon Foundation, Inc. · Successful Communities Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation · Thomas Marshall Foundation · The Turrell Fund · Vermont Children’s Trust Fund · Whit and Closey Dickey Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation - Upper Valley Region BUSINESSES A.B. Gile Financial Services · Allan’s Vending Service, LLC · Andrea’s · Blaktop, Inc. · Haynes & Garthwaite Architects · King Arthur Flour · LaMontagne Landscapes · Lawrence E. Reed, CPA, PC · Ledyard National Bank · Mascoma Savings Bank · Purple Crayon Productions, Inc. · Snyder, Cahoon & Co., PLLC · Stebbins Bradley Harvey Miller and Brooks, PA · Vitt & Rattigan, PLC COMMUNITY PARTNERS Dartmouth Community Pediatrics Program · DHMC Dept. of Psychiatry Fellowship Program · Hanover Inn · Hartford Area Career & Tech. Center, Human Services Program · Kappa Delta Epsilon · King Arthur Flour · United Way of the Upper Valley · Willing Hands BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE CAMPAIGN Clay and Liz Adams · Lauren and Robert Adams · Agnes Lindsay Trust · Anonymous Donors · Barrette Family Fund · Cinny & Steve Bensen · Chris Blau · Leeli Bonney · Bill and Susan Boyle · Bob Brown · Mary and Scott Brown · Building Bright Futures Facility Fund · The Byrne Foundation · Cashdan/Stein Great Grandmother Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation · Elizabeth and William Chabot · The Christman-Horvath Foundation · Marie and Tom Colacchio · The Couch Family Foundation · Melville Dickenson · Marianne & Brian Doyle · Emily Landecker Foundation, Inc. · William R Epply · Vicki Fish · Sam and Liz Fisher · Milt and Carolyn Frye · Arthur Gardiner and Robin Nuse · Elaine Guenet and Luke Fisher · Barbara Hall · Fiona Heaney · Hypertherm Hope Fund · Johnson & Johnson · Thomas and Lia Kehler · Pete Kelsey · King Arthur Flour · Ron & Sara Kobylenski · Richard and Beth Kolehmainen · Toby and Jennifer Kravitz · Landmann Family Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation · Jan and Gordon B. Lankton · Ledyard National Bank · George and Dominique Lightbody · Peter J McLaughlin & Jane Kitchel McLaughlin Family Fund · Peter and Carolyn Mertz · Ashley and Peter Milliken · Caroline Newcomb · Joseph and Kristin Pekala · William Pierce · Sue Pitiger · Heidi and Tobias Reiss · Bob and Nancy Rosenblum · Arline and Barry Rotman · The Salmon Foundation, Inc. · The Salon Family Foundation · Molly Scheu · Ann Seibert · Geoff Shields · Snyder, Cahoon & Co., PLLC · Bob and Kathy Snyder · Whit Spaulding · Stephen & Laurel Spielberg · Marcia Stone · Matt and Tonya Swett · George & Lynn Tidman · TooCap Foundation · Dirk van Leeuwen · Vermont Law School · Jack Wilson · Jenny Williams · Doug & Leslie Williamson.
Jewelry Os Workshop
The Family Place 319 US Route 5 South Norwich, Vermont 05055 T: 802.649.3268 路 F: 802.649.3270 www.The-Family-Place.org