GIVE
PROCESS
After the Learn team narrows the focus of the current topic, the Give team continues with the next step of our yearly cycle. The goal of the Give process is to determine the organizations and programs that best address the current topic, while remaining true to the Giving Circle’s mission and priorities. In order to do this, the Give team analyzes grant applications, and presents findings to the board membership. Board members vote to select the gift recipients.
Giving Circle priorities include:
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Improving quality of life of the Seacoast
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Serving the socio-economically underprivileged
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Fostering independence and self-reliance
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Addressing emerging needs and issues
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Providing long-term solutions
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Investing in the expansion of existing organizations rather than the creation of new ones
GIFT RECIPIENTS:

MENTAL HEALTH - OVER $110,000
Giving Cycle 2022-2023
ARTS IN REACH (AIR):
AIR has engaged teens from southeastern New Hampshire and Maine in community arts programs and mentoring after school and during vacations since 1997. AIR is committed to closing opportunity gaps for teens who face inequities and lack access to high-quality programming based on gender identity, health, neurodiversity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. This grant will support the presence of an on-site mental health professional to support the girls during and after programming.
CONNOR'S CLIMB FOUNDATION:
The mission of Connor’s Climb Foundation is to provide suicide prevention education by raising awareness, reducing stigma, and equipping youth, educators, and the community at large with tools and resources focused on the vulnerable age group of 10-24 year-olds in New Hampshire and bordering communities. The grant will allow CCF to fund and train school staff in the evidence-based Signs of Suicide curriculum. CCF reviews materials, the planning process, and the best practices for staff to implement the training with students. To ensure success, CCF provides technical assistance before, during, and after the training..
DISMAS HOME:
Dismas Home of NH is a residential treatment program for previously incarcerated women with co-occurring substance use disorder and mental illness. They provide clinical treatments and social support services in a safe, loving home-like residential environment. Dismas Home offers extended services in job assistance, housing, and ongoing mental health support as residents transition back into the community. This grant will be used to assist Dismas Home's expansion of the clinical staff to two licensed clinicians. Adding a second trauma-trained therapist will increase Dismas Home’s capacity to treat more trauma-based substance use disorders on a deeper level, allowing residents to realize significantly more progress in their recovery before they discharge from the program.
HAVEN:
HAVEN’s mission is to prevent sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking, and to support and empower all women, men, non-binary and transgender adults, youth and families to heal from abuse and rebuild their lives. Given the link between childhood trauma and mental illness, this funding will be used to support HAVEN’s ongoing prevention efforts at local schools as well as their new Camp Hope and Pathways mentoring initiatives. These programs work to prevent and heal trauma, offering youth a path to a brighter future. Camp Hope participants, many of whom face barriers to accessing therapeutic services, benefit greatly from the week at camp which has been shown to be comparable to five months of therapy.
NAMI - NH:
NAMI New Hampshire (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is committed to improving the lives of all people affected by mental illness and suicide through support, education, and advocacy. This grant will fund the Connect Youth and Young Adult Leader Programs to provide suicide prevention and intervention training to young people from age 13 to 25 on the Seacoast. As peers of at-risk youth often see suicidal warnings first, this program educates and empowers young people to seek appropriate help for their friends.
SEACOAST PATHWAYS:
The mission of Seacoast Pathways is to support adults living with mental illness on their paths to recovery while ending social and economic isolation. Following the Clubhouse Model, Seacoast Pathways is a peer community that provides a place for purposeful work, meaningful relationships, and wellness that fosters mental health recovery. The grant will allow Seacoast Pathways to increase their programming from 3 to 5 days a week as they work toward long term financial sustainability.

WOMEN & EQUITY - $110,000
Giving Cycle 2021-2022
New Hampshire Women's Foundation:
The mission of the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation is to invest in opportunity and equality for women and girls in the Granite State through research, education, advocacy, and grantmaking. This grant will be used to focus on this four-fold mission of the NHWF by supporting their core programs including data-driven research on women and girls in NH, the Women Run! Program, advocacy to elevate issues and legislation that impact women and girls in NH, and investing in community organizations.
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England:
The mission of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England is to provide, promote, and protect access to reproductive healthcare and sexuality education so that all people can make voluntary choices about their reproductive and sexual health. This grant will be used to make an investment in the Exeter Health Center to strengthen their delivery care systems and long term sustainability. The grant will make the greatest difference for young women who are uninsured and low income and who rely on the Exeter Health Center for the majority of their healthcare needs.
Community Loan Fund:
The Community Loan Fund (CLF) serves as a catalyst, leveraging financial, human and civic resources to enable traditionally underserved people to participate more fully in New Hampshire’s economy. They do this by providing loans, capital and technical assistance; complementing and extending the reach of conventional lenders and public institutions; and bringing people and institutions together to solve problems. Our grant will help fund the Child Care Business Support Program which will deliver a “One stop shop” for Seacoast area childcare programs. This program will deliver flexible capital, shared back-office solutions, and substantial cost savings for child care programs and their employees. Improving the financial outlook of our local child care providers maintains the number and affordability of child care openings so that mothers can participate in the workforce.