The Community Foundation Opportunity Network is a coalition of U.S. community foundations working together to ensure that all children, regardless of where they live, have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential.
The effort is now getting a major boost from the Ford Foundation with a $300,000 grant.
The Opportunity Network, which is led by Charitable Foundation President Dick Ober, is an unprecedented effort among community foundations to unite in a sustained effort around a single issue. The 43 participating foundations are collaborating to share best practices, tools and resources to advance opportunity in their own regions, while working with partners on the state, regional and national levels to advance equality of opportunity for all of America’s kids.
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Project LAUNCH, a coalition of nonprofits and public agencies, has been building a coordinated system of services and care to make sure that every child in Manchester has the social and emotional supports she needs to learn, thrive and grow: developmental screening that leads to earlier interventions; professional coaching and development for early childhood teachers; making behavioral health a routine part of pediatric visits; parenting classes and home visiting; a rapid-response team for children who have been affected by trauma.
Scholarship fund honors video game pioneer Ralph Baer
Ralph Baer was an engineer and inventor whose "brown box" controller became the original prototype for much of modern video gaming. The Ralph H. and Dena W. Baer Scholarship Fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation will support the next generation of innovative thinkers from the Queen City, helping students from Manchester Central High School who want to study in technology-related fields
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
