For decades, research has emphasized the importance of the first five years of a child’s life on the development of their brain. We know that if a child is not given an environment rich with love and external stimulation for each of the senses, that child’s brain will not develop to its potential – and, currently, this “damage” is irreversible.  Too many of the children in Portsmouth do not have safe, loving environments where their development is adequately stimulated.  It is alarming that the root cause of some of Portsmouth’s most pressing problems is not being addressed due to an absolute void of resources to provide such an environment to the most at-risk children.

Operation Restore Dreams will attempt to accomplish its mission by providing a positive, rich environment starting during the mother’s pregnancy and continuing until the child “graduates” at age 5.  During the program’s first year, the goal is to admit 20 pregnant mother’s from Portsmouth. The mothers will be referred to us from Portsmouth Family Medicine (a division of EVMS Health Services), the Portsmouth Health Department, the Portsmouth Public Schools, and other organizations such as Maryview Medical Center. A screening process has been developed that will allow the program to choose the most at-risk mothers based on criteria such as income level, presence of a father, and strength of family and community support. This screening process will also lessen the potential for mothers with drug addictions or other issues that would require more intensive therapy from being admitted to the program, as the program will not be in a position to adequately address those needs.
Once initial contact with the mother is made, the primary objective will be to build a relationship with her based on trust and mutual respect.  The role of the mother is still critical; therefore time will be spent on the mothers to enable them to “dream” with their children – for their children. In fact, a syllabus specifically for the mothers has been created.  The syllabus will help guide the women as they become mothers capable of rearing their children independently.  Consequently, a large part of their training will be “hands-on,” supervised childcare with their babies. To maintain incentive for their participation, Operation Restore Dreams will be paying the mothers a reduced salary with pay levels proportional to their commitment level and performance.  A detailed qualitative and quantitative evaluation process has been developed to track the mothers’ progress and to determine which pay level they are in.

Once the babies are born, the next phase will begin. A syllabus has been developed for the babies and the mothers that will provide stimulation in a loving environment. The syllabus emphasizes stimulation in each of the five senses while the children are encouraged to explore their surroundings. The environment will be multi-cultural and will include instruction in both English and Spanish.  Detailed, rigorous qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the children will be recorded to track the results of the program and to aid in modifying the syllabus in an effort to achieve maximum effectiveness.