The New Day program gets a new backyard

Located in Somerville, CASPAR’s New Day is a residential substance abuse treatment program specifically designed for pregnant and parenting women in early recovery and their newborns. At New Day, residents learn to parent positively in a setting that instills information on child development, nurturing, and behavior management. Women receive prenatal, OB/GYN and pediatric care as they learn to live and parent alcohol and drug-free.

In addition to being a safe and stable living environment, New Day offers a supportive treatment experience that includes on-site individual and group counseling, support groups, psychoeducational groups, legal assistance, and specialized services for at-risk infants, as well as referrals to support groups and social and medical services in the community.

New Day residents have an extended stay (up to 1 year) so that they can practice healthy lifestyles after delivering their babies, and solidify their recovery before moving on to sober housing. We assist residents in developing support systems in the community so that when they graduate, they will have a well-established recovery-oriented network. In many cases, mothers are able to reunite with their other children because of their participation in the New Day program. 

Felicia came to New Day straight from the hospital after having her daughter, Sheila. She had been through detox several times before, but this was her first time trying a residential treatment program. “This time, I had what I call the ‘gift of desperation’,” she says. “I had tried to get better on my own, but I really needed help. Every day was just a struggle, and I knew there had to be something better.”

She found that at New Day, where she credits the support system, the encouragement and the structure as being key to getting on the road to recovery. 

Katie, another mother living at New Day with her newborn son, has had a similarly positive experience. “When I came here, I had never been in a program before. I was nervous about the judgments people might make, and about getting along with the housemates. But everyone’s been very welcoming, and I have a safe place to be with my baby and get the help I need.” 

This spring and summer, the residents at New Day were the recipients of some amazing generosity from a coalition of neighbors, who devoted their time, money and elbow grease to a truly transformative volunteer project—reshaping and renovating the program’s backyard. 

The seeds for the project were planted pre-COVID by CASPAR supporter Heidi Pickett, President of the Verrill Foundation, who generously provided the initial donation. Then, following an introduction to our organization through our friends at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, the talented team at [RE] Architect came aboard. The firm raised additional funding for the project through CASPAR’s Finally HOME crowdsourcing campaign to make this project a reality, and from there, [RE] Architect went to work designing, planning and executing a new vision for New Day’s outdoor space. 

With help from volunteers from Formlabs, Life Science Cares and SK & Associates, [RE] Architect demolished New Day’s old existing fence and installed a new vinyl fence they purchased, built a new garbage shed, built new planters and benches to help even out the backyard slope, planted some flowers and tomato plants, installed a small patio area behind the shed, assembled a new grill (donated by SK&A Lighting), and put down some new grass seed. 

To complete the backyard, our friends at BioMed Realty donated some gently used patio furniture, which volunteers then refinished and painted to make good as new! 

The project took several months from conception to completion, and required hard work from all these dedicated supporters, with the result being an amazing-looking backyard to be enjoyed by New Day’s residents and staff.

“The backyard has been transformed,” says Liz Layton, a support staff member at New Day, “and the impact of having a space like this is so huge for the ladies who live here. Especially after COVID—imagine that you live in the city, you’ve spent the whole winter stuck in your house more than ever, dealing with some very difficult challenges. Having an outdoor space that the women can be comfortable in, bringing their babies out to enjoy has actual physical and emotional benefits. And it’s a place where they can express themselves—they can decide what to plant in the gardens—and take ownership of.”

Liz believes the psychological benefits of having the community come together to show support for New Day are also significant.  “I think the ladies were really struck by how intensive the labor and scope of this project was,” she says. “It was really impactful and touching to them how hard these people, complete strangers, were willing to work to help make their home more attractive and comfortable.”

As Felicia puts it, “The way people came and did all this work for us—and all the people who will come by the house and drop off diapers, baby clothes and other things we’ll need to be on our own. It makes us feel good that people want to help—they aren’t judging us and don’t hold our pasts against us. It is really heartwarming.”