Blog

PCHP Early Learning Specialist Vera Roffey Shares a Memorable Moment


Anecdote of a Home Visit – Learning, Sharing, and a Story
As told by Vera Roffey at the 2015 Parent-Child Home Program Conference.

PCHP  Home Visitor Vera Roffey from PCHP’s site in Port Washington, NY

During a home visit, the 10 year-old sister of the PCHP child I was visiting said, “I am embarrassed to have my birthday party at my house.” The children and a third sibling were being raised by a single immigrant mother, and they lived in a tiny apartment with a roommate just to make ends meet.
I told her it doesn’t matter how big her home is. She is lucky to have a loving mother and a great family. I told her how I had once lived in a nice size home and after being divorced had to move to a small apartment. My son wasn’t embarrassed, but I was. Then I saw all his friends still came over and they are all still best friends today.
Fran Powell, a children’s librarian and the coordinator of the Port Washington Public Library’s Parent-Child Home Program gave me a great book to read to children in this situation, Too Tall Houses, by Gianna Marino. I have found we all have struggles to overcome, however with perseverance, education, hard work and love, we can triumph over our obstacles.

SHARE

Related Resources

September 28, 2023

NY State Director Andre Eaton Attends NY Book Forum Panel A Lapse In Literacy: How We Fight Back...

September 20, 2023 New York Book Forum held a discussion at Scholastic Inc. featuring Andre Eaton, New York State Director, ParentChild +; Jill Hardy Heath, President and CEO, Heart of America; and Tami Mount, M. Ed., Senior Director, WETA / Reading Universe. The conversation was moderated by Deimosa…

January 9, 2023

2022 Person of the Year: Erica Steindl...

Congratulations to Erica Steindl, Site Coordinator for ParentChild+’s North Fork program at CAST in Suffolk County, NY. Erica has been named the Suffolk Times 2022 Person of the Year! Steindl embodies the ParentChild+ mission, to ensure that all children regardless of their race, socio-economic status, or zip code have…

August 9, 2021

When An Educator Is More Than A Teacher...

Read here as ParentChild+ is featured in our Jericho Road Community Health Center site’s summer newsletter.  

August 4, 2020

Read’s Initiative 2019-20...

The Reads Initiative has been helping to make significant impacts for families in South Jamaica, Queens and East New York, Brooklyn since 2014. Reads helps to serve the literacy needs of children and families in targeted low-income neighborhoods and ParentChild+ is honored to be a partner. Below you…

January 2, 2020

Congratulations to the First Class of ParentChild+ Graduates in Onondaga County, NY...

It Has Been A Year Worth Celebrating – 2019 In Review We thank all of our partners for your support in 2019.  It has been a terrific year for expanding our strategies and our reach.  Specifically, we thank members of the ECA Leadership Council, ECA Business Council, members of…

October 3, 2019

Local Woman Honored For Lifetime Commitment To Family Literacy, Patch, October 2019...

SOUTHOLD, NY — A local woman will be honored Thursday for her tireless work to imbue a love of literacy in the next generation. The Southold Anti-Bias Task Force will celebrate Sarah Benjamin, awarding her the 2019 Helen W. Prince Award at a ceremony to be held at…

March 7, 2019

This New York City charter network is taking its lessons to toddlers...

Preschool is already too late, if you ask Ian Rowe. The head of Public Prep charter schools in New York City believes that, when it comes to setting students up for academic success, the key is starting earlier. Much, much earlier. That’s why the network has teamed up…

February 14, 2019

The ‘transformative power’ of reaching children before kindergarten...

Mothers dropping off their children at one of Public Prep’s elementary campuses — in either the Bronx, New York, or the Lower East Side of Manhattan — often have a much younger child with them in a stroller or carriage. It’s a scene that would often leave Ian…

January 28, 2019

ParentChild+ NY Sites Awarded Over $3 Million In Multi-Year Grants By NY State Office Of Children; ...

Press Release, 1/19 NEW YORK January 2019 – The Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP), a leading early childhood, school readiness organization working in 14 states and six countries, is proud to announce that the New York State Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS) has awarded New York PCHP…

August 30, 2018

Parent-Child Home Program Names New Family Child Care Initiative Director...

Press Release, 8/30/18 MINEOLA, NEW YORK August 2018 – The Parent-Child Home Program National Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Tiffany Lee as the new Director of the Family Child Care Home Visiting Initiative. “When crafting the job announcement, we imagined an individual with professional experience…

July 20, 2018

Press Release, 7/20/18   Eva and Harry Wilson To Be Honored At Parent-Child Home Program Annual ...

  NEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 2018 – Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) will honor Eva and Harry Wilson, of MAEVA Social Capital, at their annual gala. This year’s event will take place on Friday, November 2 at Cipriani 25 Broadway in New York City. Each year, PCHP selects…

June 18, 2018

Press Release, 6/18/18   Parent-Child Home Program and Catholic Charities Announce the Launch of ...

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, June 2018 – The Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) National Center is pleased to announce the launch of its first site in Syracuse, New York. Thanks to generous support from the Allyn Family Foundation, MAEVA Social Capital, and a multi-year grant through the Early Childhood Alliance…