Dana, Class of 2021, Psychology

 She called Stepping Stones founder and director, Kathy Farland, who showed her around.

“Now, I’m helping Kathy write a federal grant for a transitional living program to create transitional housing for kids 16-22 in Nashua. Part of this would be offering fun activities and life skills courses like cooking and financial literacy courses that could go toward their hours for the week.”

Dana said they’re structuring the new program like a curriculum, where participants are asked to complete certain amount of activities each week related to learning life skills. Part of this would be offering art projects that could go toward their hours for the week. “It’s been a very interesting experience – grant writing at 20,” she said.

While much of her time is dedicated to completing the grant, due June 28, Dana also helps with day-to-day tasks like cleaning, caring for young children of youth, and helping youths prepare to move into apartments. “A lot of them have housing vouchers so they’re about to move into apartments. We’re making lists* of what they need,” she said.

Fall 2021 will be Dana’s last semester at NCC, and her experience at Stepping Stones has solidified her career and educational goals. “I knew I wanted to give back, and that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned. Kathy has said ‘these kids are some of the most resilient people I’ve met, but they don’t have the resources they need’ – and that’s what I want to do, I want to give back all the skills I’ve learned so they could move forward in their life. My dream would be to be an exposure therapist to help kids with anxiety and OCD – giving them the right skills to succeed.”

After NCC, Dana intends to transfer to UNH Durham and earn her Master’s degree there. “It would be my dream to continue school, and go as far as I can.”

Throughout her internship, Dana said what has stood out the most is how little resources there are for unaccompanied, homeless minors. “You have to be 18 plus to stay in a shelter, to get a job, and to sign a lease. You also must be 18 for any social benefits (Medicaid, food stamps). Most of these kids come from bad situations and have to resort to sleeping under bridges or couch surf if they are lucky. And that’s why Stepping Stones and the transitional housing program we’re creating is so important. Doing all this work has a great purpose.”