Building Healthier Families, One Conversation at a Time

October 13, 2025

Talking to your kids about substance use can be a difficult conversation. It can be even more challenging when you’re in recovery yourself. Amoskeag Health is working as part of the Manchester Youth Wellness and Prevention Collaborative to help parents approach these conversations with confidence. The Collaborative, which includes Makin’ It Happen, the YMCA of Greater Manchester, and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Manchester, focuses on supporting families and preventing youth substance use. One part of this work is a parenting program that helps parents in recovery build resiliency, strengthen their relationship with their children, and lay the groundwork for prevention at home.

These parents show up every week and work together to talk about parenting styles, skill building, and communication as a group. Many have experienced substance use disorder themselves and are using this space to heal, address difficult topics, and create stronger family bonds. By learning how to communicate openly and support their children’s emotional health, these parents are also reducing risk factors and helping their kids make healthy choices.

For the staff leading the program, it is inspiring to see parents show up week after week and put in the work. As one facilitator shared, “Recovery is a robust process, and these parents are shining examples of what it means to do things differently.” Through this program, parents are helping break the cycle of substance use and setting their children, and the Manchester community, on a healthier path.