Show Notes
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Lily Hanscom, Dover's new director of Public Welfare, about the city's role as a local safety net.
Hanscom, a Rochester native, traces her path into the field: volunteering at Haven at 19, an internship with a Strafford County Corrections transition program for young women, and six years with the state Department of Health and Human Services before coming to Dover earlier this year. She gravitated toward resource-focused work over crisis work, she says, and appreciates that local decisions take days rather than years.
She describes a small office on the third floor of the McConnell Center, guided by Dover's welfare guidelines, which she calls the rulebook that keeps casework consistent and fair for everyone, herself included. Beyond meeting the emergency in front of her, Hanscom emphasizes long-term sustainability, pointing to job fairs, New Hampshire Employment Security programs, and close partnerships with My Friend's Place, Cross Roads House, and other area nonprofits. She also stresses prevention, such as collecting donated backpacks and school supplies so families don't spend money they will need later for a utility bill. Parker and Hanscom agree the office should be a place people can walk into without shame, and that anyone can end up a missed paycheck or an accident away from needing help.
The Public Welfare office is in the McConnell Center, Room 334, and is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
In This Week in Dover History, we return to 1857, when workmen excavating a house foundation on Nelson Street uncovered an old chimney and cellar wall, human bones believed to be a woman's, and a spoon of a style unused for 150 years. The ruins were thought to belong to the garrison house of Peter Coffin's son, or possibly Dover's first tavern. The segment traces Coffin's remarkable life: an original purchaser of Nantucket Island, a sawmill owner, a lieutenant in King Philip's War, and later chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
More from Dover Download
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Dian Maruca, executive director of the Dover Housing Authority, as part of the podcast's continuing look at local nonprofits and social service agencies. Maruca, who has led the authority since March 2026 after joining as deputy director in 2023, shares how a teenage landscaping job at the Newmarket Housing Authority grew into a career in subsidized housing. She says that hands-on experience shapes her respect for her maintenance and administrative staff.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Planning and Community Development Donna Benton about the FY28-33 Capital Improvements Program, presented to the City Council and Planning Board on Oct. 7.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Media Services Mike Gillis about September's board, committee and commission meetings.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Margaret Joyce and Jed Allen of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce about the 42nd annual Apple Harvest Day. What began as a small craft fair on Orchard Street with about a dozen crafters has grown into a signature event often described as Dover's homecoming, with roughly 250 vendors, two food courts, a road race, an apple pie contest and entertainment on two stages. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the 5K road race starting at 8:30 a.m.
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Kathy Beebe, executive director of Haven, as part of the podcast's continuing look at local nonprofits. Haven is the Seacoast's domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and support agency. It was formed through the merger of A Safe Place and Sexual Assault Support Services. Beebe explains that the new name was chosen deliberately to make clear its services are for anyone affected, including men, teens, adult survivors of childhood abuse, and family members.