STAR is the brainchild of Hanover, NH., resident Phyllis Wilson, Ph.D. It was her vision and generosity that led to the establishment of STAR in 1996.

Dr. Wilson’s late daughter, Phyllis Ruth Wilson, contracted Polio as a preteen. As a mother and psychologist, Dr. Wilson watched her previously healthy daughter struggle with a physical disability during her adolescent years. While Dr. Wilson’s daughter did successfully transition to adulthood, the experience left a significant impression on her. Dr. Wilson believed that young people who have chronic health conditions need and deserve support in coping with their challenges and in learning to grow toward a happy and productive adulthood. She envisioned a program that would give young people with a chronic illnesses and disabilities the chance to make adolescence a rich and positive experience.

STAR assists teens in meeting the challenges that both adolescence and chronic health conditions pose. Participants are thirteen years of age and older who have chronic physical health conditions including, but not limited to, cancer, diabetes, Crohn’s disease/colitis, asthma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, seizure disorders, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis, hearing impairment, cardiology conditions and cerebral palsy.

In the fall of 1997 Kate Creskoff, a Dartmouth College student, read about STAR and after contacting Program Director Mark Detzer, Ph.D. and securing funding from the Koop Institute she became a full time STAR intern. In the spring of 1998 she and Dr. Detzer developed the formation of the mentoring program which continues to play a significant role in the success of the program.