If you’re an Upper Valley parent, then you’ve probably seen The Family Place around town—even if, at the time, you didn’t realize it. Staff from the Norwich-based parent-child center are constantly in the community: They host monthly playgroups at the Hartland Library and Montshire Museum, and they’re regularly at local events, from parades to pizza nights to their very own annual Gingerbread Festival.

Ask the participating families and they’ll probably tell you The Family Place is a treasure trove, housing an early intervention program and playground meetups, toilet training seminars and nursing support, and anything and everything you might want as a new parent. The past few years, numbers in program attendance and requests for their services have increased.

Stephanie Slayton, executive director.

But Stephanie Slayton, executive director at The Family Place, would like to see even more people walking through their doors. In honor of the nonprofit’s 40th anniversary, staff members are working hard to spread the word, with new advertising initiatives and pop-up events all over the Upper Valley, starting in September.

“We know there are families in our service area that are not accessing services they can really benefit from,” Stephanie says. “Our big effort this year is to make sure that people know about us, who we serve, and how they can get involved.”

Adapting with the Times

Staff convene monthly to learn about upcoming initiatives across the organization.

In the late ’80s, Vermont became the first in the country to sponsor parent-child centers, The Family Place (originally founded in 1985) being one of them. Parent-child centers exist in other states, but Stephanie says many aren’t state-funded or as well supported and collaborative as Vermont’s. For them, being small is an advantage; directors don’t have to travel far to meet monthly and discuss what they’re seeing in their respective communities, which is important to staying relevant.

Today, there are 15 parent-child centers in Vermont, and collectively, their goal is to offer families eight core services: parent support, parent education, concrete (material/financial)
support, home visits, playgroups, information and referrals, early childhood services, and community development.

Back when teen pregnancy was up, The Family Place’s early childhood education program was created to help pregnant or parenting teens acquire childcare while they attended school. These days, teen pregnancy is down, so the parent-child center network has been looking at other community needs, with recent efforts resulting in funding for a tobacco and vaping cessation program for pregnant and parenting families.

“I think what’s nice about parent-child centers in general is that they’re able to be adaptable to the changing needs of the community,” Stephanie says. “We’re always looking at, what is the landscape that families are having to navigate? And how can we support them to have the best possible outcomes for children?”

Friendly and Welcoming

Early Care and Education Assistant Teacher Caitlin- Anne Carney with Brayson.

The Family Place campus comprises three buildings, the first of which is a friendly yellow one that could be a home, with a front awning and dormer windows. Inside, Stephanie takes me on a tour, starting with its early childhood education classrooms.

In one, kids eat lunch family-style at a small table, a setup favored by the staff nutritionist, who’s been helping the children overcome picky eating. “They’ve found the kids are eating a lot more different foods, and they do things like pass plates to their neighbors,” Stephanie says.

Then she points out the rooms reserved for the different kinds of therapy offered here, including early intervention, which, because of its state contract, The Family Place can offer to area families at no cost.

We pass by a large, fenced-in playground with slides and sandboxes, seesaws and water tables, and follow a short path to another building, which is under construction. Stephanie buzzes us in what appears to be a side entrance. This is where most community events happen, like toddler art classes courtesy of Artistree and music programs with the Upper Valley Music Center. It’s also where families who’ve experienced trauma or need childcare financial assistance might go.

She says the goal of the renovation is to create a more welcoming and less confusing entrance that’s staffed by people who can offer immediate help, particularly with financial matters like Medicaid enrollment, which more families are needing assistance with due to federal funding changes.

Empowering Families

One of the things that makes The Family Place so helpful for families is that they do a lot; in some ways, it’s like a one-stop shop. Jessica Cowen, a parent and former practitioner, says she’d known about The Family Place through her professional work but didn’t understand its full scope until her baby exhibited signs of gross motor delays. When her son began receiving at-home physical and speech therapy through The Family Place, she learned more about the nonprofit, and was struck by how much they do.

“I learned about all that The Family Place does, from their mental health services for children and adults to parent education and their Welcome Baby Bags. All the different things they do really help families of all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds thrive in those early years,” says Jessica, who’s now a regular at their playgroups and treasurer of their Family Advisory Committee.

Stephanie, who has been at The Family Place since 2023, says what she loves about this work is helping families from the start. In the beginning of her career, she was a middle and high school special education teacher, often feeling that by the times the kids hit her classroom, many opportunities to support healthy growth and development had already been missed.

Here their work empowers parents—and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and whoever else comprises a child’s village—to build toolkits so they can help children thrive. “Your child doesn’t have to be diagnosed with anything for parenting to feel really hard,” Stephanie says. “I have three children myself, and parenting is definitely the hardest job I’ve ever had. I love that I get to work for an agency that is there to support parents and lift up families.”

There are services and programs here for everyone, no matter your child’s ability, no matter your socioeconomic status. If their demand increases or if the needs of the community change, The Family Place will continue to pivot and adapt, like they have for the past 40 years.

The Family Place

319 US Route 5 South

Norwich, VT

(802) 649-3268

familyplacevt.org