Building connections and futures

I've worked at Dover Children's Home for 4 years now. At DCH, we provide trauma-informed residential treatment to youth ages 10-21. Our model of care is called Trust Based Relational Intervention which focuses on building strong and lasting relationships with our youth to support their treatment. Most of them have not had the opportunity to build relationships centered around trust and safety. I have seen firsthand the impact these relationships have. Building trust and safety allows youth to process significant trauma, graduate high school, obtain a driver's license, find their own apartment, and so many more major milestones that all of us deserve to reach. 

Dover Children's Home has expanded this training to teach community partners too. In the past few years, we became a Recovery Friendly Workplace and Mental Health Friendly Workplace. DCH is a pillar of this community and is setting the precedent for trauma-informed care in the state and beyond. We have been restraint free for over 18 years and have helped other residential programs decrease incidents of restraint and seclusion. I am extremely proud to be a part of this team and implementing real change across the state of New Hampshire. 

The work we do would not be possible without this community. Volunteers and donors have supported youth to experience things they've never done before like fishing, going to prom, skiing, making s'mores, even job shadows. Thanks to this community, we are able to support youth to have opportunities to just "be a kid" for once. Please consider making a donation to Dover Children's Home to strengthen this connection to our community.