GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT
NEAR@Home (Start Early)
Home Visitors Provide Relationship-Based Supports for Families Impacted by Trauma
Home visitors are uniquely positioned to provide relationship-based, compassionate support to families. Home visitors who are trained to address intergenerational trauma can also support caregivers in strengthening the parent/caregiver and infant bond. Start Early’s NEAR@Home program trains home visitors to address intergenerational trauma, and is directly aligned with Perigee Fund’s vision to end intergenerational trauma through the power of early relationships.
The NEAR@Home approach equips home visitors with tools to discuss adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with caregivers in a caring, safe, and constructive way. It helps home visitors hold space for stories the parents may want to share and support the parents in reflecting on how they want to build resilience in their family.
The now-codified approach is an equity-focused training that can work within any home visiting program over 8-12 months. It fills a gap in the home visiting ecosystem by using a trauma-informed approach as a central framework. And it builds resilience, confidence, and hope in both home visitors and the families they support.
“One of our core beliefs is that all parents deserve to know about the largest public health discovery of our time: ACEs and the potential life course impact of early childhood adversity.”
– Quen Zorrah, co-founder of NEAR@Home
The NEAR@Home program started as a self-study toolkit, developed and written by home visitors themselves. It has since expanded to a facilitated training approach. Perigee funding helped NEAR@Home scale its facilitated learning process, which supports the capacity of home visitors to provide trauma-sensitive care.
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