Families First of the Greater Seacoast

We love coming to Families First! It's a pleasure to get to enjoy such an awesome, engaging program with such a phenomenal staff! Even the most energetic kids stay entertained here. Simply the best!

We join the Monday morning playgroup with Parkie and have been coming for almost a year. My daughter gets so excited when she knows it’s the day to “go sing with Miss Parkie and all the kids.” The structure of the group has allowed her to show her personality more and more, and the familiar faces of the children feel like friends to her. I appreciate the developmentally appropriate aspects of the group, Miss Parkie's welcoming and inclusive nature (how does she remember everyone?!), the crafts I never want to take on at home because of the mess, and the healthy snacks. I've made great mom friends here and find this weekly group invaluable.

The staff is absolutely welcoming and supportive. It's always wonderful to learn different skills and techniques for parenting so that we can be better parents. No matter how many classes a person attends there is always something to learn, a different skill for parenting. They run an educational but fun atmosphere and it makes families feel comfortable to share their struggles as parents.

We have been coming to Families First since my daughter was 3-1/2 months old and I can't say enough positive things about it. We attend a playgroup weekly that my daughter and I both love. She gets social interaction and playtime with her peers and I get parenting advice and ideas. It is wonderful. I don't know what we'd do without you guys.

On 3/28/2013 I wrote a review of Families First, based on a phone call I had placed to them. For some reason the information I got over the phone was completely wrong, and at odds with everything in the website for Familes First. This led me to write a terrible review. My review was followed up (here) with a request that I check back with them in regard to the information I was given in my phone conversation with Families First. I contacted Familes First again, explained what had happened, and they asked me to get in touch again. On my second contact with them I found that the info I had been given was completely wrong, and that Families First was doing all it could to make sure that kind of thing never happens again. Also, the situation that I had originally contacted them about was taken care of by Families First in a professional way by a very polite, and most importantly, a caring group of people! I wish to thank everyone there, especially Terri, for getting back to me and allowing me to find out about the REAL Families First.

About 7 years ago Families First offered a free Men's Health screening and I attended. I hadn't been to a doctor i decades because I thought I was healthy if not particularly fit. I was very seldom ill and in those rare occasions I quickly recovered. Well they determined that I had a Lipid problem and had type II diabetes. I was impressed with that encounter; i received excellent treatment and the staff was pleasant; so they became my medical home. Years later I became a dental patient as well. They offer care "regardless of ability to pay": a siding self pay scale, medicaid, medicare, and most private insurance. I have medicare and private insurance. When I retired I became a child care volunteer and later a board member.

My association with Families First began several years ago, when I joined the Board. Later, I became Board Treasurer, and, when my Board term expired, I joined the Board of Advisors. In these capacities, I have watched the organization at work and have participated in its development. I continue to be impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the staff and volunteers, and by the quality of service they provide – and especially by their care and concern for each individual. The feedback received from those to whom Families First provides services confirms this view, as does its high reputation in the community.

I started volunteering in the office at Families First about 4 years ago. I maintained client files and was able to get a glimpse of the lives some of the consummers live - many families were experiencing multiple challenges - job loss, chronic health problems, death, children with physical and mental disabilities - enough to overwhelm anyone, regardless of their financial stability. These folks had stress. I would watch the staff at FF interact with them in such a non-judgmental, caring way. They are an extraordinary group of individuals. I was fortunate to stick around long enough to see how FF changed some of these peoples' lives for the better, and how FF enabled them to get back on the road to an independent, fruitful life. I don't work in the office anymore (and I miss it) - I now devote all my time at FF to raising money to support healthcare services. I can't imagine where our community would be without it - there is nowhere else for the uninsured to go. FF does an excellent job of managing how the money is spent, and their state of the art facility and staff physicians rival that of any reputable private practice.

"Families First provides much-needed medical and dental care to people who might not otherwise receive it. The agency does this in a very efficient manner, serving 5,500 people annually on a budget of about $4 million. Those who can pay for the services do so on a sliding scale. I donate to Families First for those three very important reasons which prove Familes First is fiscally responsible. But I also give because I realize how fortunate I have been in life and many people, through no fault of their own, have not been as fortunate."