Step Up Parents awarded grant from MVSB Fund for second year

Step Up Parents kicked off 2022 receiving another $5,000 grant from the Meredith Village Savings Bank Fund. This grant will support the nonprofit’s mission of offering financial assistance to relative caregivers in New Hampshire who are raising the children of parents with substance use disorder.

In addition to taking on parenting again later in life, these relative caregivers have suffered the devastating effects of addiction with their own child or relative. This grant comes at a critical time, as so many of these selfless caregivers and their families are struggling to make ends meet.

“We are so grateful to the MVSB Fund for supporting us again this year,” said Denyse Richter, founder and executive director of Step Up Parents. “Their support will help us assist the growing number of families we serve. In 2021, we had a 64 percent increase in applicants, so we depend on grants like this.”

The MVSB Fund at New Hampshire Charitable Foundation makes grant-based contributions to nonprofit organizations that enrich and improve the quality of life for residents living in the Bank’s service areas of the greater Lakes Region, Plymouth, and Seacoast areas of NH.

“Grants from the MVSB Fund help provide support to our local nonprofits, and we were more than happy to choose Step up Parents as one of the recipients,” said Jolene Whitehead, MVSB Branch & Business Development Manager. “This is a nonprofit that truly makes a difference in our local communities, and we are proud to support the work they do to support kinship caregivers and the children in our state.”

If you or someone you know is a relative caregiver raising children of a loved one struggling with substance misuse, please visit www.stepupparents.org, call 603-319-4739, or email info@stepupparents.org.

To donate, visit www.stepupparents.org/donate or mail to PO Box 1603, Portsmouth, NH, 03801.