CONCORD, NH – Nonprofit projects across the state are sharing $4.5 million in grants awarded recently by the Community Development Finance Authority and supported by businesses throughout the state that will get tax credits for their investment.
Grants to organizations were for either specific projects or capacity building, and ranged from $750,000 to Granite State Children’s Alliance to renovate Hallsville School in Manchester for multiple uses, to $31,250 to the Androscoggin Food Co-Op in Berlin to develop a food market.
Some are for statewide initiatives, including $90,000 for the NH Preservation Alliance in its effort to increase the preservation trades workforce in the state and region.
All of the grants will have a significant impact on initiatives that advance local community economic development and build capacity within New Hampshire’s nonprofit sector, the CDFA said in a news release.
Projects that received the annual CDFA awards provide increased access to critical services, housing and quality, affordable child care; revitalize downtowns and historic structures in rural communities; and support community economic development efforts.
“Organizations awarded tax credit resources have demonstrated a strong commitment to their communities,” Katy Easterly Martey, CFDA executive director, said in a news release. “These community builders are driving positive, long-lasting change in New Hampshire.”
New Hampshire businesses support the selected projects by buying the tax credits, and the nonprofit receives a donation, while the company gets a 75% New Hampshire state tax credit against the contribution. The credit can be applied against the business profits or business enterprise tax, or insurance premium.
Easterly Martey said that the awardees, through public-private partnerships, are addressing critical needs in communities, and serve as economic drivers in rural areas.
Projects receiving awards:
- Colebrook Kiwanis Foundation (Colebrook) – $50,000. Money will be used to rehabilitate the South Main Street Park, a central gathering space for the community, rehabilitating open and accessible green space and complementing downtown revitalization efforts.
- Concord Coalition to End Homelessness (Concord) – $625,000. The credits will be leveraged to develop a commercial property on South State Street into eight one-bedroom apartments that will provide permanent supportive housing with rental assistance for individuals experiencing homelessness. The organization will provide all tenants with ongoing case management.
- Granite State Children’s Alliance (Manchester) – $750,000 to support renovation of the Hallsville School building into a multi-use center, in partnership with Southern New Hampshire Services and the city. The project includes the development of a regional Child Advocacy Center, as well as statewide administrative offices for the Granite State Children’s Alliance. In addition, SNHS will develop 20 apartments for income-eligible seniors and a Head Start classroom serving income-eligible families. The city will continue to provide community use of the gymnasium.
- Granite VNA (Laconia) – $187,500 to support the expansion of its Community Health Programming into the Lakes Region by renovating and expanding its Laconia location. The organization will use the renovated space to increase access to community health programming.
- Lebanon Opera House Improvement Corporation (Lebanon) – $350,000 to buy energy-efficient and accessible theatrical lighting equipment, as well as transportable equipment that will expand community access to the arts. The new equipment will expand in-house programming, as well as support the organization’s Light Up Our Community Initiative, an innovative model for bringing the arts to public spaces with the goals of diminishing blight, building community connections, and providing barrier-free access to the arts.
- Lisbon Area Historical Society (Lisbon) – $322,500 to renovate the former Lisbon Congregational Church Parish House and create an accessible, permanent location for its headquarters and local area history and research museum. The center will be a part of a history campus that connects with the town’s restored railroad station and the local rail trail, and serve as a driver for the regional rural economy.
- Monadnock Economic Development Corporation (Keene) – $500,000 to support the Bringing It Home Project, an initiative to improve child care accessibility by creating and supporting home-based providers in the region. The program aims to create at least 10 licensed, home-based providers by 2025, adding an additional 60 to120 childcare slots and creating 25 new jobs. Tax credits will be leveraged for start-up expenses in the form of home improvements required for licensure and health safety upgrades.
- SEE Science Center, Inc. (Manchester) – $150,000 to build and install the Millyard Design Zone: Cities Reinvented exhibition around the historic LEGO model of the Amoskeag Millyard. The new exhibits will engage visitors in the STEM and 21st-century skills relevant to local urban planning issues including city planning, climate change, manufacturing, and building and engineering.
- The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (Dover) – $175,000 to support expansion of the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire allowing it to better serve families of young children and their evolving needs. The project will focus on enriching play opportunities to build social and emotional developmental skills for young children so they are prepared to enter kindergarten. The museum is an economic driver for downtown Dover and is a community-based hub for families that lack access to child care because of the statewide crisis.
CDFA also awarded tax credit money for its Community Economic Development Capacity Building Program.
“New Hampshire needs a strong, effective nonprofit network with the capacity to support our communities and envision, create, and implement broad-based community economic development projects,” the release said.
Awardees are:
- New Hampshire Preservation Alliance (Concord/Statewide) – $90,000 to advance strategies and workforce programming to support its mission to increase the preservation trades workforce in the state, an initiative that also includes Maine, Vermont and northern New York.
- 1269 Cafe Ministries (Manchester) – $150,000 to deepen its response to the needs of chronically unhoused individuals in Manchester.
- Androscoggin Community Cooperative (Berlin) – $31,250 to support the Androscoggin Food Co-op on its mission to create a community owned cooperative market with accessible, healthy food options for all in the Androscoggin Valley.
- Coos Economic Development Corporation (Lancaster) – $150,000, in partnership with Grafton Regional Development Corporation to advance a collaborative approach to better reaching underserved small businesses and entrepreneurs in the communities.
- Mountain Top Music Center (Conway) – $150,000 to further its mission of enriching lives and building community by providing inspiring music education and by offering performance and listening opportunities throughout the area.
- NH Coalition to End Homelessness (Manchester/Statewide) – $150,000 to support its focus on lasting solutions to ending homelessness through research, education, and advocacy.
- Our Place, Inc. (Dover) – $150,000, to provide residential options, services and support designed to meet the needs of adults with developmental disabilities.
- Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative (Plymouth) – $150,000, to meet the growing demand for community-led energy efficiency programs as well as food security in the region.
- Positive Street Art (Nashua) – $96,740.95, to inspire a passion for the urban arts in a productive way and to build strong communities through educational workshops, community events, and artistic services.
- Victory Women of Vision (Manchester) – $150,000, to encourage, empower, and nurture immigrant and refugee families to thrive by embracing their cultural heritage as they build their new lives in the greater Manchester and Concord area.
- Youth Success Project (Statewide) – $150,000, to create an equitable platform for youth voice in decision-making spaces through collective power and advocacy work led by those who have been most marginalized. The organization is focused on ending youth homelessness in New Hampshire.