Welcome to Holland

WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley. I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland". "Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy" But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned". And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

The Center for Medical Home Improvement

www.medicalhomeimprovement.org

NH Area Agencies

Region I Northern Human Services 87 Washington Street Conway, New Hampshire 03818 Dennis MacKay, Executive Director Eric Johnson, Chief of Operations Phone: 447-3347 Fax: 447-8893 Website: http://www.northernhs.org/ REGION II Developmental Services of Sullivan County, Inc. 654 Main Street Claremont, New Hampshire 03743 Mark Mills, Executive Director Phone: 542-8706 Fax: 542-0421 REGION III Lakes Region Community Services Council 67 Communications Drive P. O. Box 509 Laconia, New Hampshire 03247 Rich Crocker, Executive Director Phone: 524-8811 or 1-800-649-8817 Fax: 524-0702 Website: http://www.lrcsc.org/ REGION IV Community Bridges, Inc. 525 Clinton Street Bow, New Hampshire 03304 Roy Gerstenberger, Executive Director Phone: 225-4l53 or 800-499-4l53 Faxes: 225-0376 (Case Management and Independent Living Services) 225-6159 (Executive/Administrative Offices and Clinical Services) 226-3354 (Business Office and Child and Family Services) Website: http://www.communitybridgesnh.org/ REGION V Monadnock Developmental Services, Inc. 121 Railroad Street Keene, New Hampshire 0343l Alan Greene, Executive Director Phone: 352-1304 or 1-800-469-6082 Fax: 352-l637 Website: http://www.mds-nh.org/ REGION VI Area Agency of Greater Nashua, Inc. 144 Canal Street Nashua, New Hampshire 03064 Sandra Pelletier, Executive Director Beth Raymond, Associate Executive Director Phone: 882-6333 Fax: 889-5460 Website: http://www.areaagencynh.com/ REGION VII Moore Center Services, Inc. 132 Titus Avenue Manchester, New Hampshire 03l03 Paul Boynton, Chief Executive Officer Phone: 668-5423 Fax: 206-2716 Website: http://www.moorecenter.org/ REGION VIII Region VIII Community Developmental Services Agency, Inc. Parade Office Mall 195 Hanover Street, Suite 40 Portsmouth, New Hampshire 0380l Bob James, Executive Director Cathy King, Associate Executive Director Phone: 436-6111 Fax: 436-4622 Website: http://www.cdsregion8.org/ REGION IX Behavioral Health & Developmental Services of Strafford County, Inc. Forum Court 113 Crosby Road, Suite #l Dover, New Hampshire 03820-4375 Brian Collins, Executive Director Phone: 749-4015 Fax: 743-3244 Website: http://www.dssc9.org/ REGION X Region 10 Community Support Services, Inc. 8 Commerce Drive Atkinson, New Hampshire 03811 Jane Dichard, Executive Director Phone: 893-1299 Fax: 893-5401 Website: http://www.region10nh.com/