Kerry and her husband, Russ, were in the throngs of a busy and fulfilling family life enjoying their three young adult children, and looking forward to doting on their future grandchildren, when life took several unexpected turns beginning in 2014.

Kerry knew her oldest son, Spencer was struggling with alcoholism, but when he revealed to his parents that he was addicted to heroin and desperately needed their help to find treatment, she was stunned. Kerry dove into learning about substance use disorder treatment options for her son, and as a health care professional she was sure she could find a solution.

“As I searched for treatment options for Spencer, my eyes were opened to how difficult that was going to be, how few options there were, how long the wait lists were and how expensive many of the treatment options were, it was overwhelming.”, recalls Kerry.

Spencer’s road to recovery wasn’t easy. There were many difficult setbacks, but with the unwavering support of his family, he rebuilt his life. Today Spencer is seven years sober, holds down a great job and is raising three beautiful children with his wife Britany.

At the same time Kerry was helping Spencer, she was working at Garrison Women’s Health in Dover and seeing more and more young women come into the practice several months pregnant and suffering from substance use disorder.

One young pregnant women, Abi Lizotte, changed Kerry’s life forever. Abi was a patient in her first trimester and during her first health care appointment revealed to Kerry that she was addicted to heroin.

“We tried hard to help Abi, get her into outpatient treatment, but she was in tough shape and missed a lot of appointments. In her eighth month of pregnancy, she called saying she was frightened that she was going to die.”, recalls Kerry.

Kerry drove to Abi, homeless, standing in the pouring rain. She brought Abi to the hospital and as Abi regained stability the whole team at the hospital began to search for a residential treatment place for pregnant women.

Abi entered residential treatment in the summer of 2015 at the then the only program in NH for pregnant women with substance use disorder. Kerry put out a call to action on Facebook that night, asking for help to start a center for the many women that needed this treatment. The call was answered by many in the community including co-founder, Colene Arnold.

That year, Kerry and Dr. Arnold committed themselves to creating a residential treatment center for pregnant and post-partum women that offered a nurturing environment where women could secure easy access to and be supported through treatment and recovery.

In December of 2016, Kerry, Abi and Dr. Arnold stood on the steps of Hope on Haven Hill surrounded by community and state leaders and cut the ribbon to their residential treatment home in Rochester, NH.

Today, Hope on Haven Hill offers a full continuum of services including residential and outpatient treatment, recovery support programs and operates a recovery house for women who have completed treatment and are not ready to re-enter the community without additional support.

“We named our recovery house Abi’s Place, in honor of Abi. Substance use disorder is a chronic disease and ongoing supports are needed. Abi tragically died from an overdose a year after we opened Hope on Haven Hill. I only wish she could be here today to see what she inspired.”

When asked about the future, Kerry says, “There is so much more we can do and must do, to create communities that have the supports in place to be there for women struggling with substance use disorder and their babies. The women we serve are so brave and face so many difficult challenges, many without any support. They have it within themselves to change their lives — if we can just be there to offer the tools, support and HOPE.