fbpx

My 42 Years at NAC – A Letter from Arlene Goldsmith, Founder

Dear NAC community,

After serving as Executive Director of New Alternatives for Children for 42 years, I will be transitioning my role to Founder. I will remain at NAC until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition and to work on a variety of special projects. I am extraordinarily proud of the significant accomplishments of our children and families, thanks to our amazing staff and a stellar Board of Directors.

I am extremely pleased to announce that Dr. David Goldstein, NAC’s Chief Operating Officer for the past 6 years, will assume the role of Executive Director on March 18, 2024. Dr. Goldstein, a Psychologist, has a significant background in child welfare, mental health, legislative initiatives, including Medicaid design, and is a recognized leader and authority in the field of child welfare. We are extremely fortunate to have him lead our agency and preserve the “gold standard” legacy that has been built in the last 42 years.

While it was an enormous challenge to create and build a non-profit for an extraordinarily vulnerable population of children growing up in hospitals, NAC became a transformative agency with an award-winning model of 360 degrees of support. Over the past four decades, we changed the trajectory of the lives of thousands of children who experienced severe trauma growing up in institutional settings.

NAC was, and continues to be, a pioneer in the provision of services for children with special healthcare needs. As the agency grew from 5 to 400 staff, our team of interdisciplinary clinicians exemplified the can-do attitude that enabled our children and families to defy the odds and flourish. Our belief in recognizing and supporting our children and families’ strengths and our optimism that everything is possible, is the difference for which NAC is known.

I have had the extraordinary opportunity to watch our kids and families go well beyond the expectations of the world around them. We demonstrated that NAC kids and families can grow and develop into productive  citizens who have enriched and rewarding lives. NAC will continue to build a world of possibilities and we will keep our promise to ensure a better tomorrow for our families and children.

I thank all of you, our friends, champions, government affiliates, and foundation funding partners for trusting us and seeing the value of our work. We could not have reached today without your significant support in so many ways. Our motto NAC KIDS CAN came from our vision that a child’s history is not their destiny.

My reward for 42 years is to see the incredible heights our children and families have reached. It has personally been an extraordinary journey for me.

I know this will continue under Dr. Goldstein’s leadership.

My heartfelt appreciation to all of you and to our NAC family,

Back