Bringing It Home: Looking Back on the 14th Annual Strengthening Families Summit
On Tuesday, November 3, I watched this year’s Summit from the table farthest from the stage, which is exactly where you’ll find our amazing tech guys from MFI, Paul and Rick, the back of the room is their natural habitat. It's a really great spot for seeing the whole picture: every seat, every conversation, all the connections. The Grappone Conference Center filled with parent leaders, service providers, educators, health professionals, and community partners, all there for the 14th Annual Strengthening Families Summit, Bringing it Home: Centering Families, Strengthening Communities. From the back, you could see just how many corners of New Hampshire were in one room.
Melanie Plenda, Executive Director of The Granite State News Collaborative, hosted the day, and her presence set the tone from the start. A host shapes how a room feels, and Melanie helped make the Summit feel like what it was meant to be: a gathering of people who care about the same thing, learning alongside one another.
Tym Rourke started our morning off with his Keynote, and his message set the tone for
everything that followed: resilience grows when communities listen, respond, and stand beside families. He spoke as a New Hampshire native, a longtime leader in prevention and community change, and a father whose young son faced and survived a life-threatening illness. It was a reminder that the strength of a family is built with the people around it.
From there, the day turned practical. The morning and afternoon breakout sessions gave participants tools to carry back to their work: engaging and supporting fathers, building school and community partnerships through McKinney-Vento, learning the reporting process through KNOW & TELL, understanding infant crying through the Period of PURPLE Crying program, putting the HOPE Framework into action, and learning how the Child Advocacy Center supports children and families after a report is made. Thank you to Richard Feistman, Erin Cayer, Taylor Hurteau, Stacey Lazzar, Haily Lincoln, Stephanie Arroyo, Kelsey Moore, Ryan Mahoney, Sarah Fox, Patrice Baker, Amy-Lynn Sullivan, and Nicole Ledoux for sharing your knowledge and your time.
The afternoon caregiver panel brought the day home. Maggie Stanley moderated a conversation with Mark Rolon, Kailene Jones, Stevie Klein, and Andrea Weiss, putting family voice and leadership at the center of the room. Thank you to each of them for sharing their experience with the people who work every day to strengthen families.
The awards ceremony was a highlight. Heather Lefoll received the Lucy Fowlkes Breed Award for her volunteer work with families across northern New Hampshire, where she has built peer support and practical resources for pregnant and parenting families. Stephanie Lesperance received the Dr. Robert Chamberlin Award for nearly 30 years of building statewide systems of support for children and families, including securing New Hampshire’s first Statewide Family Engagement Center Grant in 2022. Congratulations to you both, and thank you for the difference you have made.
Thank you to Melanie for hosting, Tym for our moving Keynote, and to our sponsors (listed below) whose generosity made the day possible. Capturing a day like this takes a special kind of energy, and Derrick from DL Photos had it in abundance.Thank you, Derrick, for making sure the faces, the conversations, and the connections of the day were captured so beautifully. And thank you to everyone who joined us. The Summit may happen in one day, but the work of bringing it home belongs to all of us, in our programs, our schools, our communities, and our families.
For more information visit: www.nhchildrenstrust.org/strengthening-families-summit
Thank you to the following sponsors for their support of the Summit!
Community Sponsors: NH Department of Health and Human Services: Division for Children, Youth and Families Foster Care Program, Service Credit Union
Family Sponsors: Ascentria Care Alliance, Bank of New Hampshire, Couch Family Foundation, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Delta Dental
Friend Sponsors: AmeriHealth Caritas NH, Bob's Discount Furniture, Eastern Bank, Easterseals New Hampshire, Granite Edvance, Larksparre Consulting, Milton Hershey School, Mount Prospect Academy, NBT Bank, New Futures, NFI North, NH Department of Health and Human Services: Division of Public Health, WellSense Health Plan
Neighbor Sponsors: Able NH, Associated Grocers Northeast, Birchwalking, Building Community in New Hampshire, CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, Compass of Hope Counseling, Diocese of Manchester, Kennebunk Savings, Kurn Hattin Home and School for Children, National Alliance on Mental Illness-NH, NH Association for Infant Mental Health, NH Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics, NH Healthy Families, Save the Children Action Network, UpReach Therapeutic Equestrian Center, Waypoint
New Hampshire Children’s Trust is leading the drive to strengthen families and communities, through education, advocacy, and collaboration, that prevents child abuse and neglect.
We envision a New Hampshire where all children thrive in safe, nurturing and supportive environments.
For more information about New Hampshire Children’s Trust visit www.nhchildrenstrust.org.
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