St. Charles Children's Home provides a safe, loving, and stable home environment for children who cannot be in their own homes due to neglect or abuse. Because they have already faced great burdens in their young lives, the staff works to heal the wounds of each child by providing a nurturing, caring atmosphere where each child is regarded as an individual with unique and important needs.
Since its inception in 1913, the home has played a critical role in the lives of the children who have come to reside there. Originally founded as an orphanage, it transitioned to a home for children of families in crisis in 1968. Licensed to accept children from age three to twelve, the children who come to St. Charles are referred by the Division for Children, Youth and Families.
It is the goal of the home to help in the rehabilitation of the family unit first by helping the children learn new behavioral skills and, secondly, by helping parents augment their parenting abilities. Though the hope is for reunification, this is, unfortunately, not always possible. In many cases, the children remain at the home or are placed in foster care until another permanent placement can be found.
 St. Charles is located in Rochester, NH. The grounds include a swimming pool, basketball court, two playgrounds and a pavilion for outdoor summer activities. The program allows the children to participate in community-based activities such as T-Ball, baseball, soccer, scouts, gymnastics, music lessons and dance. Involvement is determined by individual needs and skills. In-house programs include swimming lessons in the summer, a summer school program, daily running, and voluntary participation in area road races, cross country skiing, and periodic drama classes.
The running program at St. Charles began during the summer of 1996 to help the children cope with the stress and anger which often accompanies placement and separation issues. Running is a natural antidepressant, and the main goal of the program is to enhance their self esteem. Training and competition vary depending on each child's age and ability with some running up to four miles a day, five days a week. The children participate in 5k and 8k road races in the Seacoast area throughout the year.
For more information visit:
www.stcharleshome.org
St. Charles Children's Home
19 Grant Street
Rochester, NH 03867-3001
Phone 603-332-4768
Fax 603-332-3948
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