O P I N I O N
THE SOAPBOX
Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.
Christina’s story is all too familiar to far too many women in the Granite State. Alone, addicted, stuck in a dangerous relationship, and in frequent trouble with the law, Christina had run out of places to turn.
Until she learned about New Life Home.
“Since 1977, New Life Home for Women and Children has believed in and served as champions for transformation,” the non-profit organization’s website reads. “New Life Home is a place where women and their children’s broken lives are restored! It is a voluntary, residential treatment facility like few others and one of the oldest of its kind.”
New Life Home helped Christina overcome her addiction, enroll in college, and, well, start living again.
“Coming to New Life, the love of Jesus transformed me and made me new,” she says.
When I sold the company I founded and retired from the business world, I knew I wanted to help other people, to answer Christ’s call to love my neighbor. I remember with immense gratitude the non-profit and church volunteers who helped my family when I was growing up. We didn’t have much money. We relied in large measure on the kindness of others. I knew this was my time to pay it forward.
My call led me to New Life Home. Since 2019, I’ve served on the group’s board of directors, helping it to grow and increase the number of lives it can raise up.
I see my aspiration to serve as District 16 State Senator as an extension of that call to love my neighbor. Who is my neighbor? Well, it’s everyone, really. But the wealthy don’t need help. They’ve always had a voice in Concord and I have no doubt they always will. I want to help the voiceless; Christina and others like her who need a helping hand.
The government can play a role in helping families, as it did for us when I was a kid. But, that doesn’t always mean spending more money.
For example, I support foster care reforms that enrich the whole family, not just the kids. These reforms, currently under consideration at the Division for Children, Youth and Families, can keep more families intact resulting in a better life for kids and their parents. It won’t cost more money, but it sure will help families and kids most of all.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we are finding out that loosening restrictions on telehealth can help thousands of Granite Staters combating disease without the hardships and complications that sometimes accompany personal trips to providers’ offices. That should be true for patients with substance use disorders, as well. Let’s grant patients with substance use disorders greater access to treatment by further expanding telehealth opportunities to them.
Let’s also remember that the government doesn’t have all the answers. Non-profits like New Life Home fill a vital role in helping Granite Staters who are struggling. In the New Hampshire Senate, I’ll work to unleash the potential of non-profits and ensure they remain a vital partner with the state government in the fight to improve the lives of every man, woman, and child in New Hampshire.
On October 20, I’ll host a non-profit roundtable in Manchester with Gov. Chris Sununu to discuss in detail some of the ways we plan to make that happen. People can learn more about it at my website Syversen4Senate.com.
I believe the most important function of government is to help people. It does that in its most elegant form when it partners with non-profits on the groups to give people a chance at a great life. That’s why I’m running for state Senate.
Jason Syversen is the Republican nominee for State Senate in District 16.
