Granite VNA Expert Sarah Love Receives Shining Star Award
Granite VNA’s Sarah Love Receives Shining Star Award for Family Support Excellence
In a significant recognition of exceptional contributions to family support, Sarah Love, a Family Support Specialist with Granite VNA’s Healthy Families America program, has been awarded the prestigious Shining Star Award by the New Hampshire Home Visiting Learning Hub. This accolade emphasizes her unwavering commitment to empowering families within her community through a compassionate and proactive approach.
The Shining Star Award is bestowed upon those individuals within New Hampshire’s home visitor programs—including Healthy Families America, Comprehensive Family Support Services, Kinship Navigation, and Newborn Navigation—who exemplify remarkable dedication, ethical standards, and a continuous drive for professional growth. Recipients are recognized not only for their technical abilities but also for their empathy and cultural sensitivity, enabling them to build meaningful connections with families, co-workers, and community members alike.
Peer nominations for the award highlighted Love’s exceptional skill in establishing rapport with parents. Her capacity to foster trust and validate the experiences of families is critical, especially in a landscape where parenting can often feel isolating. Love’s colleagues noted her unique ability to empower parents, helping them to feel acknowledged and supported throughout their parenting journeys. One peer remarked, “Sarah is the soul of home visiting on every front,” underscoring her invaluable role in the program.
Expressing gratitude upon receiving the award, Love stated, “I’m so grateful to work with Healthy Families America—New Hampshire, and it is an honor to be recognized for the work we do to help families build skills and strengthen their support systems to help them be successful.” She reflected on the intimate nature of her work, emphasizing the profound satisfaction derived from being welcomed into families’ homes—a crucial aspect of fostering a strong support network. Love poignantly noted, “Parenting can be isolating and lonely—I wish I had a program like this available to me as a young parent.”
With three years of experience as a Family Support Specialist and a background in early childhood education, Love engages directly with young families and first-time caregivers across Belknap County, parts of Merrimack County, and Southern Grafton County. Her role involves connecting families to essential resources, including food security and housing assistance, while also setting developmental goals for children to facilitate holistic growth.
Granite VNA continues to make strides in promoting family well-being across central New Hampshire and the Lakes Region. For those interested in learning more about Granite VNA’s family support services, further information can be found at bit.ly/4jNqHoZ. Love’s recognition serves as a testament to the importance of community-based support systems that affirm the collective responsibility of nurturing healthy familial relationships.
