“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”
- John F. Kennedy
Why We Exist
Hannah’s House protects children and heals families experiencing the trauma of family breakup, divorce and loss. Our network of family programs address the mental, behavioral and social problems resulting from family breakdown. Our goal is to teach parents to co-parent peacefully and break the destructive cycle of dysfunction and abuse, allowing children to have a safe, healthy relationship with both parents.
Our Namesake
Hannah is the namesake of our organization and the continued inspiration for our work. She reminds all of us, every day, of the importance of a safe and secure routine for the children of divorce and separation. And she inspires us to protect children from the trauma she suffered.
Hannah was two years and four months old when her father abducted her. She was gone for almost exactly four years. During that time Hannah’s mother and two sisters struggled with fear, depression and despair. They tried to cope with the alternating hope that Hannah would be found and the grief that she was lost to them forever.
Hannah had to go through dramatic changes when she was abducted, on the run with her father for four years, and again when she was finally found. Everything about her life kept changing, with no warning, and she had no say in it and no control over it.
Upon her return to her mother’s home, Hannah showed a remarkable resilience as she struggled to accept and understand what was happening, and what had happened, to her. And she did so with the loving support of her mother and sisters, as well as a supportive relationship with a psychologist who worked with Hannah as she worked to adjust to her new life.
Our History
Our organization started out with the idea that we would train professionals in a wide variety of fields to understand the impact of substance abuse, mental illness, and other life challenges face by individuals and families. We planned to have a family program where the knowledge and skills could be practiced. Much to our surprise, San Diego needed something that looked a little different.
We created a diverse advisory council in 1988 that worked with us for the first 5 years to figure out how to apply our mission in ways that would truly benefit our community. The result? We continued to train professionals from many fields, but the emphasis of our training and education work shifted more directly to families challenged by a variety of life challenges: family breakup, substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness, emotional challenges, and unexpected losses and changes in the life of the family; and to the professionals working to help these families.