A legacy of generosity

Support from the Foundation’s Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund touches thousands of lives every day

By Kirsten Scobie, Director of Tillotson Funds  |  

Opportunities for kids are expanding. Access to health care is being improved. Locally-grown food is becoming more widely available. Community forests are being created. Businesses are getting professional technical assistance. A strong network of local leaders is working to improve North Country communities. Hungry children are being fed. Arts venues are flourishing.

Explore the full 2015 Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund Report to the Community, including a full list of grants made to strengthen communities in the North Country and surrounding regions.

 

 

PDF-icon     Read the 2015 Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund Report to the Community (PDF)

 

 


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Teen Trail Crew, a NH-JAG summer youth program. (Courtesy photo.)

Students garner life lessons on the trail

Jobs for America's Graduates and the Appalachian Mountain Club have partnered up to offer Berlin students meaningful, paid summer employment, skill-building work in environmental stewardship, and exposure to careers in conservation and land management

The Lancaster Community Garden managed by Taproot Farm and Environmental Education Center provides the community with green space to grow their own garden.

Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund awards nearly $1 million to support the North Country

Families will have increased access to nutritious foods. Community forests in Gorham and Milan will expand, providing additional income, lumber and open space for recreation. A local community college will train students for high-demand careers in industrial mechanics. And more.

For all her fondness of international travel, Louise Tillotson loved the North Country, and it quickly became her home. Courtesy photo.

Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowships awarded to three North Country teachers

Since 2007, the Louise Tillotson Fellowship has awarded $445,100 to North Country public school educators

Kristin Lizotte, a teacher at Kearsarge Regional Elementary School, has been awarded the 2019 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

The Power of Many: giving and working together for NH

A few examples of recent grants making a difference in communities around the Granite State: Portsmouth Music and Arts Center builds community through the arts; Christa McAuliffe's legacy continues; Kids in Chichester get new playground equipment; Empower Coös Youth Grant Committee makes its first round of grants; Veterans get support and services; History is preserved in Manchester; The largest remaining dairy farm in the Monadnock region is conserved

Youth Leadership Through Adventure (YLTA) students active with the Empower Coös Youth Campaign. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Community matters

Results of the 10-year Coös Youth Study by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire show that a strong civic culture and deep sense of community act as protective factors for young people in the North Country, even as the region struggles to adapt to a shifting economy and out-migration. Data will be used to inform grantmaking in the region

Northern Forest Canoe Trail, post work paddle on the Connecticut River. (Courtesy photo.)

Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund announces more than $350,000 in grants to support efforts in the North Country

Adventure seekers will learn about mountain-biking opportunities in Coös County thanks to a new marketing campaign. A local theatre will entertain thousands of guests with live performances and film. And more

Mobile STEM Lab delivers ‘awesome’ to North Country students

White Mountain Science, Inc.'s Mobile STEM Lab crisscrosses the North Country to bring STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — programs to students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to dive into this modern curriculum. The mobile lab was launched with support from the Charitable Foundation's Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund

Coös Youth Grantmaking program awards first grants

Tilly Players, after-school program at Boys & Girls Club of the North Country and After School Kids in Whitefield receive support from youth-led program of the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund

Fat-bike racers crossing Moose Brook in Gorham, NH. (Photo by Joe Klementovich.)

Building a mountain-biking mecca in Gorham

The Coös Cycling Club is providing outdoor recreation opportunities for local residents, drawing tourists, and contributing to economic revival in the Gorham area. The group has now joined forces with the Borderlands Trail System, which is promoting trail networks and communities across the Northern Forest region. Grants from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation support this work and other efforts to promote sustainable economic development for the North Country

William Evatte receiving care at Coös County Family Dental. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Meeting a community’s dental needs

Coös Family Dental, on Berlin's Main Street, is open to anyone in the community who needs care. The clinic is filling a need that is particularly acute in the North Country, where more than two in ten adults have not seen a dentist in the past five years, and very few dental practices are accepting new Medicaid patients. The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has supported the clinic with a grant to upgrade equipment

Lancaster Play & Learn in Lancaster, NH. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Collaborative efforts for Coös kids gain national recognition

A decade-long collaboration funded by the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has resulted in a coordinated system of care and services aimed at improving outcomes for every child in Coös County. A research brief about that work, “By Us and For Us, A Story of Early Childhood Development Systems Change and Results in a Rural Context,” has been published in the The Foundation Review, a national, peer-reviewed journal. Now, lessons learned in Coös County can be applied to other rural communities around the country to improve outcomes for children

2018 Northern Forest Symposium participants. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Committed to the North Country

The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation made more than 70 grants and totaling $3.3 million in 2018. Read the stories of just a few of those grants in the Tillotson Fund's annual Report to the Community