Agency History
Families First Health and Support Center has experienced tremendous organizational change and growth since our beginnings as a prenatal clinic more than 20 years ago. We have expanded our mission to include primary health care and family support services, and now serve almost 5,000 clients per year. Below are highlights of our history, followed by a list of our programs showing our evolution over time.
1984: Portsmouth Prenatal Clinic is established at Portsmouth Hospital to increase access to early and quality prenatal services for pregnant, low-income women and teens.
1988: Parent-aide program begins to provide support to women who delivered babies through the Prenatal Clinic.
1992: Family Center opens. Today, it offers a variety of year-round parent education classes, parent support groups, parent/child activity groups and children’s programs and home visiting programs.
1995: The agency’s
name is changed to "Families First" to reflect its broader
mission.
1997: Families First begins offering comprehensive primary care services in addition to prenatal care. As a full-service community health center, Families First has become the "safety net provider" for the most vulnerable individuals and families in the Seacoast region, including many homeless families.
1999: Both the Health Center and the Family Center move to the new Community Campus, a state-of-the-art building in Portsmouth that also houses other non-profit agencies. The programs are now located across the hall from one another, increasing collaboration among staff and making it easier for clients to use all the services available at Families First.
2002: Families First receives its first federal grant, for a Health Care for the Homeless Program. Mobile health care teams travel in specially equipped vans to provide medical care, mental health and substance abuse counseling, and care coordination at shelters, soup kitchens and other sites that are easily accessible to homeless people.
2003:The Dental Center at Families First opened in February, making Families First one of the first community health centers in New Hampshire to provide on-site oral health care. Services include preventive, restorative and emergency care, education and care coordination for children and adults.