Together We Thrive: In Our Community

Here are just a few examples of what happens in New Hampshire communities when people give, and work, together:

• Delicious food for a cause
  Head to Somersworth for breakfast or lunch and support a great cause while you eat. SOS Recovery has opened Fold’d, a new downtown diner that is providing a recovery-friendly workplace while offering the community with a gathering space and delicious fare. (Specialties include crepes, omelets and smash burgers. No alcohol is served.) Foundation grants helped launch the new venture. Profits from the diner go to SOS Recovery.
• Reporting for the planet
  New Hampshire Public Radio’s “By Degrees” reporting initiative helps Granite Staters understand how climate change is shaping our state and the world around us. NHPR programming also provides ongoing connection to and understanding of the natural world through “Something Wild,” and the award-winning podcast, “Outside/In.” Grants from multiple Foundation donor-advised funds support NHPR’s reporting on the environment.
• Sound of music
  A donor-advised fund grant helped Monadnock Music to present its 2023 season. Concerts were presented in communities across the region — with performances on village greens and in theatres, libraries and church halls from Francestown to Jaffrey to Milford to Rindge.

• A river runs through it
  Franklin is a city whose economy once ran on the power of the river — water-powered mills were the primary employment for residents, and goods came and went via railroad. The Mill City Park at Franklin Falls aims to make the river a central feature for the city’s vitality once again — by drawing people to the whitewater recreation the park provides. The park has received support from a Foundation donor-advised fund grant. (Pictured above.)
• Kids are finding their stride
  Finding our Stride is a nonprofit that gets kids in the Upper Valley out running after school — boosting fitness, self-esteem and resilience while connecting young people with each other, with mentors and with community. An operating grant is helping to support the organization. All the Finding Our Stride running teams — plus coaches and family members — recently participated in the CHaD Hero Run to benefit the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth. The 550 Finding Our Stride runners raised more than $74,000 for the hospital.
• Art, representation, community
  Queerlective is a new nonprofit that works to create and promote inclusive environments for for queer people, people of color and underserved communities by using art as a tool for personal and community growth. Through events, exhibits, gatherings and collective art projects, Queerlective provides opportunities for people to celebrate and connect and promotes representation in art. An operating grant from the Foundation is supporting the work of Queerlective.
• So everyone can learn to swim
  A grant from a donor-advised fund is helping the YMCA of Greater Nashua to purchase pool equipment needed to increase access to people with disabilities. The Y offers a variety of aquatics programs, including adaptive swim lessons for swimmers with diverse physical and neurological abilities.