Supporting families in crisis takes both skill and compassion. That’s why we’re excited to welcome Nancy Theriault as our new Family Programs Clinical Supervisor. She brings years of experience in child advocacy, trauma-informed care, and family support. Her passion for helping children and families has shaped her career, and now she’s bringing that dedication to the Haven.
Nancy joins us from the Child Advocacy Centers of Windsor County, a program of The Family Place. She spent 11 years there as a forensic interviewer, program coordinator, and child and adolescent mental health clinician. Though she once considered a completely different path, even thinking about working at a garden center, she couldn’t step away from this work. Learn more about Nancy in the interview below. Nancy’s experience and energy are a great addition to the Haven, and we are excited to see the impact she will have on our family programs.
What drew you to the Haven, and what excites you most about your new role?
I have always respected and appreciated the work the Haven does in the Upper Valley. I’ve known about it for years and have had occasion to collaborate while at my last position. I saw the job listed and felt excited about taking on a supervisor role. I felt like my many years of experience working with families with significant challenges would lend itself well to the work here at the Haven.
How do you see your experience at The Family Place shaping your work here?
For many years I worked with families and children experiencing incredibly difficult and challenging circumstances. I gained a lot of knowledge about complex trauma, as well as family and individual resilience and strength. That work helped me gain compassion and empathy, and the ability to meet families exactly where they are, and to be able to offer psychoeducation from a strength based and compassionate perspective.
In addition, my work with The Family Place allowed me to create strong working relationships with many of the same community partners that the Haven counts on for a community-based wrap-around service approach, including child protection, law enforcement, and mental health. I have already called on several of my old friends numerous times.
What are your main priorities/goals as the Family Programs Clinical Supervisor?
My goals are to help continue to shape and create vibrant and exciting programs for the families who are with us here as shelter guests, and for children who come through the after school and summer programs. I am excited to work toward creating an enthusiastic, skill based, and committed team who will work together collaboratively with families to create plans and dreams for living the lives they hope for, while having a safe and supportive place from which to lay the groundwork. I hope to provide support and a safe place for that team to brainstorm, to all have a voice, and to create excitement about the work we do.
How do you hope to support families facing housing instability?
I hope to support families by offering them safety, stability and a sense of community while here at the Haven, while they work together with committed and skilled service coordinators as they face the challenges of securing housing.
What’s something you wish more people understood about the challenges families in crisis face?
To be honest, working with families who are unhoused is (mostly) a new experience for me. I’m learning a lot, and I suppose that what I wished I had known, and wish others understood is that there are myriad reasons why people become or remain unhoused, and it’s always important to keep an open mind, and to continually work to meet people exactly where they are, with no judgment.
When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your time?
When I’m not working I like to play in the snow (skiing, snowshoeing, skating) in the winter, and in summer I’m an obsessive gardener and mostly love growing flowers. I’m passionate about dance, and do ballroom, swing, country two-step, and line dancing. I’m an avid baker and love to bake fancy birthday cakes for my friends. I also love to romp in the woods with my scruffy mutt, the adorable Scooter (who sometimes accompanies me to the Haven) and best of all, I spend lots of time with family, especially my 4 grandchildren, including 19 mo old twin boys.
