LAURA REICHSMAN, PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF 

CHD'S FAMILY OUTREACH OF AMHERST

"FROM CLIENT TO DIRECTOR:  A STORY OF RESILIENCY"

Laura Reichsman was raised in Amherst where she raised her son as well.  In fact, they had the same guidance counselor in high school! Laura’s experience as a teen mother brought her a unique perspective on working with at-risk struggling families. Having to support herself and her son at a young age, she slowly cobbled together an academic background in Women’s Studies. But as Laura says, “the best training I had for guiding parents out of crisis and helping struggling families has been my own lived experience, not something that came out of a textbook.”

Over the past thirty-plus years, Laura has taken Family Outreach of Amherst from a small program with one thirty-hour caseworker to an agency with multiple programs and three caseworkers who assist six hundred families a year in multiple ways. Her dedication to making lasting change in a family’s life is based on the belief that the person being helped is the expert in their own life and that given the right support with respect and love, anyone can change their life for the better.

This talk is part of the Thursday Evening Series featuring remarkable and accomplished local women and their personal journey of challenges and achievements.

This event is free and open to the public.