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Stafford Meals on Wheels volunteer driver, Don. (Courtesy photo.)

Stafford Meals on Wheels volunteer driver, Don. (Courtesy photo.)

Greater Rochester Community Health Foundation awards $80k in inaugural grants

New Foundation awards first grants to improve health and well-being of people in Strafford County.

CONCORD, NH (PRESS RELEASE) — The Greater Rochester Community Health Foundation’s Board of Directors has announced $80,000 in grants to eight nonprofits working to improve the health and well-being of people in Strafford County. Each organization will receive a $10,000 grant to support its operations.

“The GRCHF Board of Directors is pleased to award our first round of grants to these eight nonprofits which provide a range of services critical to the health of Strafford County residents,” said Betsey Andrews Parker, chair of the GRCHF Board and CEO of the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County. “We envision a thriving, healthy and connected community for the people of Strafford County. We look forward to working with residents and nonprofits to help realize that vision.”

The following organizations each received a $10,000 operating grant:

Community Partners of Dover

Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation of Dover

Greater Seacoast Community Health of Portsmouth

Haven of Portsmouth

Southeastern New Hampshire Alcohol & Drug Abuse Services of Dover

Strafford Nutrition & Meals on Wheels of Somersworth

The Joan G. Lovering Health Center of Greenland

Waypoint of Manchester (Waypoint operates sites in Dover and Rochester)

The grants were awarded through GRCHF’s Small Grants program which is a competitive application program open to all nonprofits that serve Strafford County residents. For this inaugural round of grants, the board chose to focus on access-to-care challenges. Access to care was identified by initial research of community needs assessments from the major healthcare providers in the region and may include: mental health, substance use disorder, food security, housing, senior services, transportation and logistics, culturally appropriate care, awareness of services, care coordination and patient motivation.

GRCHF’s mission is to improve the health and well-being and reduce the burden of illness of people residing in Strafford County and surrounding communities. GRCHF does this work by awarding grants, making program-related investments, and providing other financial assistance to health and social service programs, organizations and projects that benefit the community.

GRCHF was created in 2021 with proceeds from the sale of the nonprofit Frisbie Memorial Hospital. GRCHF is a “supporting organization” of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, drawing on the Charitable Foundation’s community knowledge and financial and investment expertise to meet its mission. These eight grants are the first made from GRHCF.

The GRCHF Board of Directors includes (in alphabetical order): Betsey Andrews Parker, CEO of the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County, chair; Jennifer Gullison, RN, vice president of operations at Cornerstone VNA in Rochester; Brian Hughes, president and CEO of Holy Rosary Credit Union (HRCU) in Rochester; Sandra Jalbert, community volunteer from Rollinsford; Raude Raychel, founder and president of the Indonesian Community Connect in Somersworth; and Emmett Soldati, owner of Teatotaller Café in Somersworth.

To learn more about the Greater Rochester Community Health Foundation and future grantmaking opportunities, please visit www.nhcf.org/GRCHF.