Lakes Region health, cultural organizations receive grant awards

Three Lakes Region projects are among 14 statewide to receive grant funding from the Northern Borders Regional Commission this year.

The Catalyst program serves communities across New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and New York.

Entities in Laconia, Franklin and Moultonborough received a combined $1.65 million to expand infrastructure, renovate existing assets and create new jobs.

Accessibility at Partnership for Public Health

Partnership for Public Health, located in Laconia, received a $399,050 grant award to renovate and modernize their existing community public health building — improving accessibility and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance — which they hope will reduce operational costs and increase their capacity to facilitate health education, drug use prevention, chronic disease management and resource navigation programs. 

Their building, located at 11 Academy Square next to Laconia District Court, requires work to become ADA compliant. The grant award will help facilitate that work, along with the installation of new electrical and air handling systems, and will provide for physical security systems and a generator.

PPH operates one of the state’s Aging and Disability Resource Centers — formerly known as ServiceLink — it’s “one of the core programs that we have here at the Partnership for Public Health,” Chief Executive Officer Tammy Carmichael said Wednesday afternoon. It’s focused on helping the elderly, veterans and people with disabilities connect with the resources they need to live independently.

The program serves, on average, 8,000 to 10,000 people each month across Belknap and Carroll counties. Because their downtown building lacks accessibility, they use space at WORK Lakes Region in Lakeport if needed to meet with those in the program.

“We needed to make our building accessible to them,” Carmichael said.

“It’s one of our main programs,” Senior Director of Advancement Carissa Elphick said, noting it accounts for about 50% of their work.

About a month ago, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen visited PPH for a roundtable discussion, and organizers put up tents outside to host it because the building isn’t accessible. There are also employees of their own organization with disabilities. 

“With direct service, it’s super important,” Elphick said.

The purchase and installation of a generator is not only practical, it’s paramount — at various times of the year, PPH partners with fire departments to store vaccines, because they’ve got generators and cold storage. But PPH should be able to do that work in-house, and will install a security system on property in tandem to that goal. 

“We are actually taking steps to make that happen,” Carmichael said.

Vaccine storage and distribution is just one of many functions performed by the organization.

“We also coordinate our region’s emergency plans with our first responders,” Elphick said.

“Public health is part of the puzzle in our community that isn’t often thought about,” but is impactful in numerous matters of personal and civic life, Elphick said.

Carmichael said they’re planning to begin construction in August, in conjunction with receiving Community Block Development Grant funds. Administered by the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority through the City of Laconia, PPH’s stacking both the Catalyst money and $419,250 in CDBG awards to help get their project rolling.

Community space at New Hampshire Boat Museum

For its Moultonborough campus, the New Hampshire Boat Museum received a $250,000 award to renovate their 6,500-square-foot main floor, enabling the museum and a new community space to operate throughout the year.

The award is Phase II of a $500,000 project to purchase and renovate the building located at 130 Whittier Hwy, and renovate the main floor, facilitating the creation of new educational spaces, flexible exhibits, and conference and office areas.

“The project is finishing off the upper floor,” Development Director Wendy Stocker said in an interview.

A portion of the upper floor is set to be transformed into community and flexible office space.

The museum purchased the property in spring 2022, and completed the first renovation, Phase I, in April 2023, which included numerous improvements like an epoxy floor to help control humidity — climate control is important for preserving their collection — prepared the building to be ADA-compliant and ready to present exhibitions and museum programming. 

“That prepared the building to move into to start exhibiting,” Stocker said. 

This year, in Phase II, they’ve been building out museum exhibits. Phase II renovations, funded by the grant, will complete the reconfiguration and provide more exhibition, community and educational space on the upper floor of the museum. 

“It has helped us connect with a lot of new audiences,” she said.

While the Wolfeboro campus is about 5,000 square feet and still home to collections and the museum's outdoor programming — like boat-making classes — the total footprint of the Moultonborough campus is about 24,000 square feet.

All of that space includes a lecture area, where Dr. Dewight Stowell will deliver the first on Thursday, July 17, on 90-year-old mahogany Chris Craft. Doors open at 6:30 and the lecture begins at 7 p.m.

“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community,” Stocker said. 

Their organization hopes to remain an economic driver for the region, supporting tourism and workforce retention. 

“We’re really proud to be awarded this grant,” she said.

They hope to get started on Phase II of the project in the offseason, which runs from the second week of October to Memorial Day.

Serving more patients at HealthFirst

HealthFirst Family Care Center's Franklin location received a $1 million grant award to renovate and connect a newly-acquired, 2,200-square-foot building there to a previously existing 7,500-square-foot facility. Organization leaders hope the funding will help them expand access to health services and create as many as 10 new full-time positions. 

HealthFirst purchased the 2,200-square-foot building and land in the summer of 2023, which is adjacent to their existing building, the main health center. Connecting the buildings and performing much-needed renovations has been a goal at HealthFirst for some time and, including the Northern Borders funding, they’ve got about $4 million to achieve it. Chief Executive Officer and President Ted Bolognani said the $1 million should help them push the project “across the finish line.”

“It was a perfect opportunity to expand our footprint,” he said last week. 

They’d previously received $750,000 in the form of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant, $1 million in congressionally-directed spending through Shaheen’s office, and another $450,000 through former Rep. Annie Custer’s office — both facilitated by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration — and another $470,000 by way of a Community Development Block Grant and the City of Franklin.

“The foremost reason we’re pursuing the grant and the expansion is we need more space to serve patients,” Bolognani said. In recent years, they’ve seen the need in the community increase and, as a federally-qualified health center, they’re mandated to serve the uninsured, which is a primary goal of their organization. Bolognani said, with reductions in spending on programs like Medicaid anticipated, the need is expected to grow.

“We’re the safety net provider for them,” he said.

“This has all been driven by our desire to meet the demand,” Bolognani said, noting behavioral health and counseling services are particularly busy. “They cannot keep up with the demand.”

The funding will also enable staff to expand their services in both behavioral health and primary care services, hiring for up to 10 new positions: probably one or two medical providers, two or more behavioral health services providers, plus associated support staff.

It is the organization’s first Northern Borders Regional Commission grant, and Bolognani said he hopes to start working on the project as soon as August.