Student Quotes
"I love it when the kids get that light behind their eyes, meaning that they really *get* what we've been saying, and it has inspired something further in their minds. I also love it when they best me at something!"
"One thing that always makes me smile is the kids’ reaction to our arrival—they have a tendency to run up and hug or tackle us. I feel like we’ve become sort of an extended family."
Program Description
- The Haven is both a day-care and a shelter for children in the Upper Valley and in the Templeton Housing Projects.
- Volunteers from Dartmouth College spend several hours a week working with the children at the Haven both to expand their horizons and to act as positive role models.
- Weekly activities generally focus around creative projects—such as the sculpting of pots for plants that the children must take care of, or designing masks based on the commedia dell’arte—with opportunity for the participants to learn about a larger world.
- Each session is preceded by a warm-up activity that allows the children and volunteers to interact and open up to each other by discussing recent events, what is currently going on in their lives, and what they enjoyed about the previous activity.
Focus Areas
Creativity is the usual focus of participation at the Haven, though there are different themes associated with each project. Learning about other cultures and the larger world is often a theme, as is learning to examine and discuss the smaller personal details of one’s life. Most visits begin with snack time or a game in which everyone participates to remind everyone that one of the main purposes of the activities is to enjoy oneself.
Time Commitment
Visits to the Haven are conducted on a weekly basis. Volunteers spend 2.5 to 3 hours at the Haven working with the children on the week’s project. Some additional activities occur outside of this time frame (such as working as stagehands for a play the children put on) but generally do not run longer than two hours.
Contact Information
Call Eva Langlois (802) 295-6500, or use our Online Contact Form.
Transportation
The Haven is a 15 to 20 minute drive away from Dartmouth, in White River Junction. At most, two cars or a minivan are needed to transport volunteers, but at least one car (and one approved driver) is necessary.
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