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Lois R. Shea

Senior Writer and Communications Officer

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Latest Posts

Foundation seeks community participants to design new Racial Justice Fund

Foundation launches Racial Justice Fund, which will be led by a group of community partners with lived experience and a passion for advancing racial justice. The group will decide how the fund should be used to advance racial justice in New Hampshire and will define goals and priorities for the fund.

Members of the Community Listening Group.

A report from community: the barriers people face

As the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation undertook a strategic planning process to set priorities for the coming years, we first set out to listen closely to people who have faced those barriers.

haron and her family now have stable housing thanks to CATCH Neighborhood Housing. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

A growing crisis

New Hampshire's housing crisis is not new, but it is severe. Nonprofits are working on multiple fronts to address it.

Christina Kim Philibotte, chief equity officer for the Manchester School District. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Diversity is our strength

Christina Kim Philibotte is the chief equity officer for the Manchester School District. A Foundation grant to Manchester Proud helped support the creation of her position. She spoke to the Foundation’s Lois Shea about her work.

William Abbott, second from left, and his family. (Courtesy photo.)

Meet William Abbott

William Abbott has joined the Charitable Foundation as a senior philanthropy advisor for the Lakes and North Country regions. He talks with the Foundation’s Lois Shea about his family’s long agricultural legacies, the intersection of equity and conservation work and the honesty of conversations that can happen in “purple” towns.

The state of music education in New Hampshire

Report details the field of youth music education in New Hampshire and identifies opportunities for investment to improve it. Research will inform grantmaking from the Foundation, including from the David M. Brooks Music Fund, which distributes about $200k annually for music education in public schools, focused on areas of the state with greatest need.

How the expanded child tax credit helped NH families

The expanded child tax credit helped move millions of American children out of poverty.
The Foundation, through a partnership with national funders and NH Housing, made grants to a number of nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire that were doing outreach to families to let them know about their eligibility for the credit — and to help them apply.

Scholarship honors legacy of John P. Foss

Longtime public-school educator John Foss "had a special place in his heart for kids who struggled with learning." Now, a scholarship fund in his name will help students from Milford who have faced disabilities or hardships such as homelessness or mental health challenges; or students studying to become educators who will help children who have faced disability or hardship.

View of the ruined city center of Kharkiv, Ukraine after Russia's invasion. (Courtesy photo.)

Resources for giving to help Ukraine

Russia’s war on Ukraine has resulted in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. More than four million people have already become refugees, fleeing bombardment and ground warfare and seeking safety and shelter. For generous people who want to help, a number of resources are available to assist in directing donations to where they will be most helpful and effective.

Kassie Eafrati of Berlin joins the Tillotson Fund’s advisory committee. To learn more about the #SmallActs campaign to promote neighbors helping neighbors, please visit: smallactsnorth.com. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund 2021 Report to Community

In 2021, the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund made more than $3.7 million in grants to support the North Country and surrounding communities in Quebec and Vermont. Read the stories of how the North Country's nonprofit sector has faced the combined challenges of our times with tenacity, ingenuity and strength.

Eugene Reid, recipient of the 2021 Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowship. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

A teacher for the trades — and for life

Eugene Reid is a self-described “shop teacher” who has shaped the lives of generations of students. He is the recipient of the 2021 Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowship, which was created to support excellent public school teachers and reward their commitment to schools in the North Country.