Interrupting intergenerational cycles of addiction

My journey to this board began when I served as a Congressional fellow and sat across from family after family devastated by the opioid crisis — parents who had lost children, children who had lost parents, and mothers forced to choose between getting help and keeping their kids. That experience set me on a path: research on substance use at Dartmouth, policy work at the Congressional Budget Office analyzing the opioid epidemic, and years spent reading nonfiction, fiction, and memoirs, trying to understand not just the statistics, but the human reality of addiction. What I learned is that addiction is a health crisis and the most vulnerable people caught in it are often mothers and their children. Opening in New Hampshire's Upper Valley next year, FFNE will let mothers recover with their children, so no woman has to choose between healing and her family. In New Hampshire, accidental drug overdose is the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths, and hundreds of infants are born each year exposed to substances — the need is urgent and real. Please give today. Your donation builds a place where families don't just survive the crisis — they flourish beyond it.

Families Flourish NE: Rural families and communities in central and northern New Hampshire have been severely impacted by our state’s substance use crisis yet have far less access to treatment than more heavily populated parts of our state. Untreated, perinatal substance use is associated with significant morbidity and mortality for these women and their infants, including infectious disease, prematurity, poor fetal growth, and neonatal withdrawal leading to prolonged hospitalization. FFNE will help reduce these devastating outcomes by offering a residential program for pregnant and parenting women based on American Society of Addiction Medicine’s 3.5 Level of Care. Using a modified therapeutic community model, support can last up to one year, focusing on the following approaches:

Trauma-Informed

FFNE understands and considers the pervasive nature of trauma and promotes an environment of healing and recovery rather than practices and services that may inadvertently re-traumatize.

Strength-based

FFNE emphasizes each woman’s self-determination and strengths, while viewing them as resourceful and resilient in the face of adversity.

Nonjudgmental

FFNE is committed to the acceptance of setbacks and providing extra support as needed.