Set back from the road near downtown Portsmouth with vegetable gardens and substantial woods, The Chase Home often relies on support from local businesses to help maintain its property. “There are always projects here,” said Executive Director Meme Wheeler, who said The Chase Home recently welcomed Embrace Home Loans for outside yard work. “There was a lot to do, so we were thrilled when they offered to send a team of volunteers,” she added.
In total, 9 people from the Embrace Home Loans’s NH sales team spent an entire day limbing trees and bushes, weeding the flower beds, and leaf-blowing and cleaning up the driveway. The volunteer team also trimmed hedges, cleaned up and around the basketball court, weeded the tree/shrub line in front of the house, and spread 8 yards of mulch.
“It was an awesome and productive day,” noted Ray Tweedie, Producing Sales Manager for Embrace Home Loans in Portsmouth, who said volunteers came from their Portsmouth, Bedford, and Lebanon, NH offices. Referring to The Chase Home as “a fantastic local nonprofit that has been helping youth for more than one hundred years,” Tweedie said their support reflects Embrace’s belief in giving back.
“We think that there are few things better than helping nonprofits and especially those that help young people,” he said. “We were honored to be at their facility, and many on our team have said they’d love to return for a fall clean-up, or any other projects they may have.”
According to Wheeler, having volunteers on-site at The Chase Home is “a wonderful experience.” “It is helpful for us as a staff, but it also shows the kids who live here that the community cares and is invested in them,” she said. “It sends a powerful message to our kids.”
Founded in 1877, The Chase Home in Portsmouth serves at-risk youth annually through prevention, early intervention, residential and community-based programs. Some youth are served in the community while others live at The Chase Home.
Chase Home for Children 