Tillotson Fund awards more than $1.9 million for North Country communities

The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation recently awarded more than 32 grants totaling $1.9 million through its grant application programs between January and June 2022.

Established in 2006, the Tillotson Fund is one of the largest permanent rural philanthropies in the country. It is guided by a local advisory committee and distributes more than $3.5 million annually. Since 2006, more than $41 million has been awarded to nonprofit and municipal organizations in Coös County and communities in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont and the MRC De Coaticook in Québec, Canada that share a border with Coös County.

Grant awards were made from the Tillotson Fund’s Local Grants, Large Grants and Dash Grants Programs to the following organizations:

Local Grants Program
Our Local Grants Program provides grants of up to $20,000 two times a year in March and September.

Acti-Sports MRC de Coaticook (The Resource Foundation), $20,000, to renovate flooring to accommodate new exercise equipment

Appalachian Mountain Club, $20,000, to install a backcountry composting toilet to meet recreational day and overnight use

Audubon Society of New Hampshire, $19,918, to support the publication of a northern Coös County bird booklet, marketing materials and bird-watching tours

Grace Community Church, $20,000, to install a new ADA-compliant chairlift

Kismet Rock Foundation, $20,000, to provide scholarships for at-risk Coös youth to participate in a year-round development program

Municipalite de Saint-Malo (The Resource Foundation), $20,000, to purchase outdoor exercise equipment and complete a protective structure

New Hampshire Association for the Blind, $20,000, to support a pilot project to improve access to vision services in Coös County

Step Up Parents, $10,000, to provide financial assistance for kinship caregivers and their families

Tin Mountain Conservation Center, $20,000, to expand environmental education opportunities for children and their families

Victory Hill Sector, $19,899, to continue to support youth trail work crews on a multi-use trail system and launch an internship program

Waypoint, $10,000, to continue supporting families with children with chronic health conditions living in Coös County

Weathervane Theatre Players, $20,000, to support theatre programming for children and youth and provide accessible theatre for community members

White Mountains Community College, $20,000, to support a “meals-included” program for all WMCC students

Large Grants Program
Our Large Grants Program provides organizations with grants from $20,000 up to $300,000 with decisions made in March and September. 

Area Churches Working Together, $80,000, to provide operating support and food purchases over three years

Canaan Schools, $295,000, to rebrand the Canaan Career Center, develop new workforce training programming for adults, and make upgrades to the center’s facilities over three years

Cohos Historical Society, $28,375 (over two years), to support phase 1 of the restoration of the museum building located in Stratford Hollow

Crotched Mountain Foundation, $140,000 (over two years), to support Coös County public schools in providing special education services to students with complex disabilities

Maison de la famille de la MRC de Coaticook (The Resource Foundation), $79,811, for the continued development and feasibility assessment of the “Rooted Families” program.

New Hampshire-Jobs for America’s Graduates, $75,000, to continue providing leadership and career training opportunities to Berlin High School students

NH Community Loan Fund, $100,000, to remove 14 unoccupied homes located at Colebrook Homeowner’s Cooperative, a resident-owned community located in Colebrook, NH

North Country Education Services Agency, $72,500, to continue promoting quality social and emotional learning practices and policies in schools and organizations serving children and families in the greater Coös County region

Northern Forest Center, $100,000, to continue providing operating costs

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, $120,000, to provide operating support and renovation costs for Forest Society North (f/k/a The Rocks) located in Bethlehem, NH

The Center for An Agricultural Economy, $150,000 (over two years), to provide operating support

Tillotson Center, $64,000 (over three years), to continue to provide operating support

White Mountains Community College, $114,485, to construct a new training facility to accommodate technical training classes

Empower Coös Youth Grants
The Empower Coös Youth Grants Program provides organizations with grants of up to $10,000 to support environmental initiatives that engage youth; increasing extracurricular activities for youth; strengthening community engagement, and addressing gaps in need. 

Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country, $10,000, to purchase two recumbent bikes for youth with disabilities

Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust, $4,950 (over three years), to support an internship pilot program for Profile High School students

Franconia Soaring Foundation, $10,000, to support 50 introductory glider flights and startup an aviation STEM curriculum at Lisbon High School

Gale River Co-operative Preschool, $4,900, to offer environmental literacy and stewardship programs to young children and their families

North Country Pride, $10,000, to support local events that educate and empower LGBTQ+ youth, their families and allies

North Country Supervisory Union, $10,000, to expand a summer program for middle school students