The Sunshine Project

LACONIA — Today, Lakes Region Community College will hold a health care open house and express admissions event from 4 to 6 p.m. for anyone in…

LACONIA — If it were up to John Miller, the direct care staff at Belknap County Nursing Home would get significant, permanent raises to keep t…

LACONIA — LAKEVIEWS, the first forum in a series on how to revitalize downtown Laconia, drew roughly 150 people from the Lakes Region and 25 v…

LACONIA — Warren Clement, 79, and Brandon Borghi, 27, represent Laconia’s old guard and new guard.

LACONIA — When Stephen Duprey, a developer who spearheaded the revitalization of Concord’s Main Street in the 1990s, surveys the City on the L…

GILFORD — Dr. Maude Aldridge, a Belmont pediatrician who lives in Gilford, has a five-year-old who will start kindergarten next week wearing a…

LACONIA — More than two years in the making, and the work of 70 to 80 high school seniors who studied building and construction and plumbing a…

SANBORNTON — For Brittany Abbott, the family’s 100-acre woods is a garden of resilient beauty, an oasis where she can walk, camp, snowshoe and…

LACONIA — Perspectives on Critical Race Theory and training on diversity and inclusion differ greatly according to one’s political views, life…

LACONIA — When Jim Thompson, who is 83, ponders Critical Race Theory, his thoughts turn to the impact it might have on his grandchildren and g…

TILTON — When Stacey Robitaille spotted a tumbledown house on a spacious lot, she expected a diamond in the rough. Rough was an understatement.

GILMANTON — June Zanes Garen of Gilmanton never imagined when she became a nurse that she would endanger her life.

Summer means picnics, barbecues, swimming, days on the beach or boat – treasured experiences that cast away worries while families soak up the sun.

When it comes to real estate, Rick and Jenn Kelly benefit from their entrepreneurial spirit, hard-work ethic and ability to spot diamonds in t…

LACONIA — Next Steps Community Services, an Orford-based operator of residential facilities for people with mental disabilities, will take ove…

TILTON — What initially brought Ron and Eveleen Barcomb together was a dance called the Electric Slide.

MOULTONBOROUGH — This cottage industry began in an empty bay at a mechanic’s garage.

SANBORNTON — They are co-angels in the battle against food insecurity.

LACONIA — Michelle Farry, 29, worked as a cook and a dog groomer before she discovered her true calling in September as a unit aide at St. Fra…

CONCORD — In an historic decision issued Tuesday, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that people experiencing mental health crises who are …

LACONIA — Jane Sharp, a health care veteran, has worked for 35 years in a role that is usually underestimated, frequently undervalued and perp…

TILTON — For Regina Dokus, Wacky Wednesday became a mission of mirth, a way to beat isolation and despair and bring in-person cheer to residen…

LACONIA — Nursing homes across the Lakes Region have scrambled to adapt resident life to pandemic conditions. But of all the adaptations and d…

LACONIA — Paula Chambers, 74, who came from Georgia, found a calling and nickname during COVID-19 that may spark vines at the Taylor Community…

Kelsey Harriman grew up in a home without alcohol. She had her first drink at age 19 when she moved in with her boyfriend and his parents. It …

For years, volunteers drove Claire Gagne and Gertrude Jocelyn to the Tilton Senior Center in the town’s old Grange hall, where they enjoyed co…

LACONIA — For families, it’s a precious milestone. After a year apart, they’re back to meeting and hugging their loved ones in nursing homes –…

BELMONT — Between 8 and 10 a.m. on Thursday, during the first two hours of vaccination at the Belknap Mall, 232 people received COVID shots – …

LACONIA — Polarized views of the COVID-19 vaccines abound. Some people believe the shot is essential to protect themselves, their families, co…

TILTON — Ancient philosophers studied the role of friendship in social and emotional life, in peacetime and war, and concluded that companions…

Many veterans usually don’t like to air their struggles or setbacks. Those things stay bottled up — partly because of an unspoken, understood …

FRANKLIN — Many couples rehash their days at work. For Kristin and Bryan Tracy, talk often turns to work done by their dogs – what happened wh…

TILTON — It was a day to celebrate a life saved – and an act of duty, courage and instinct that will live forever for baby Evangeline Noelle F…

SANBORNTON — With one of the state’s first farmer’s markets, an historic tavern, a gazebo for band concerts and a library where everybody know…

NORTHFIELD — Mandie Hagan grew up in the family business, and it was only natural that she would someday run Rowell’s Sewer & Drain, the c…

NORTHFIELD — The children dictated or printed messages on placemats they made for staff appreciation week at Spaulding Academy and Family Serv…

MEREDITH — Betsey Donavan owned and managed a restaurant, then became a stay-at-home mom before she discovered her ultimate calling – somethin…

As parents of teenagers ages 14, 16 and 17, Jennifer and Randy Miller of Gilford are used to swimming in drama and angst.

LACONIA — New Hampshire struck a somber first on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14: 51 children waited in emergency rooms statewide for hospitalization…

LACONIA — Freeman Toth has the weighty job of finding people before it is too late.  

LACONIA — A program in Laconia, Manchester and Somersworth that enables police officers to get help quickly for children in crisis is expandin…

NORTHFIELD — For the seven children ages 6 to 16 who moved in on Monday, Wednesday House is not just a home away from home – it’s a home inste…

Family relationships can be loaded, especially when a powder keg of politics enters the room.

LACONIA — St. Joseph’s Church, a well-loved landmark across the from the downtown post office, was ready to open as a temporary overnight shel…

LACONIA — A health needs survey of the Winnepesaukee region points to priorities that have become more urgent during COVID, including access t…

It’s a common scenario, and one that has increased during COVID: Seniors and retirees, with newfound leisure, many expenses, and uncertainties…

LACONIA — A new study has exposed serious financial woes and gaps in legal help for New Hampshire's neediest residents, including victims of d…

The federal moratorium on housing evictions will extend through March, but it’s unknown when the $200 million in emergency relief funds earmar…

TILTON­­­ — When Heidi Ober moved into a rooming house downtown, she had no idea that the live-in property manager was not depositing the cash…

LACONIA — The time-worn Victorian home on Union Avenue housed a law office, then Lakes Region Community Developers, before it was reborn in Fe…

LACONIA — A community forum on building bridges across political divides drew about 30 viewers Wednesday who listened to panelists trade thoug…

LACONIA — For the nation, and the 33 Lakes Region participants and panelists who tuned into to a celebration of Martin Luther King Day by Zoom…

LACONIA — It’s intended to be an ice-breaker, a bridge-builder and forum for listening and communicating with respect – especially about uncom…

LACONIA – Since November, the New Hampshire Food Bank has operated a mobile food pantry in Laconia – a drive-through pick-up for 33-pound boxe…

PLYMOUTH – Trish Murphy’s job as a homelessness prevention outreach worker includes everything from filling out housing applications and drivi…

PLYMOUTH – Trish Murphy tackles life’s biggest variables in her role as a finder of missing pieces.

LACONIA — The Christmas tree at Isaiah 61 Cafe contains nearly 275 handmade ornaments printed with names – one for each homeless person who ha…

LACONIA — An online forum on tolerance drew nearly 80 viewers on Wednesday, including community members and local school, city, religious and …

LACONIA — Despite frigid temperatures on Saturday morning, a downtown demonstration drew nearly 50 people calling for Dawn Johnson’s resignati…

LACONIA — At an online School Board meeting with roughly 300 viewers and repeated calls for board member Dawn Johnson to step down, residents …

LACONIA — When COVID-19 ushered in a strange social and economic landscape, Lakes Region businesses scurried to adapt – and Rita Toth and othe…

TILTON — The character of Bryant and Lawrence Hardware hasn't changed much in 100 years – and that's a key to its success.  At a time when big…

LACONIA — Letter writing may no longer be in fashion, but don't tell that to the boys and girls in Laconia Scout Troop 68 and a cadre of Belkn…

LACONIA — When asked what he is grateful for, John-Paul Kehoe lights up – perhaps with more intensity than other downtown shoppers on a sunny …

The story plays out across America: In small towns and housing co-operatives, democracy and government usually ends up in the hands of a few m…

GILFORD – The complaints at Lakes Region Mobile Home Village Cooperative in Gilford have all the intrigue of a mystery or soap opera, with all…

Fourteen years ago, when Wendy Cheney moved to Soda Brook Cooperative, a resident-owned mobile home park in Northfield, she expected a peacefu…

MEREDITH – For 30 years, veterans from the Lakes Region and beyond have gathered at the flagpole in Hesky Park to raise awareness of service m…

What lessons learned through military service are important to pass down to grandchildren? Lakes Region veterans’ responses ranged from making…

When Tevis Bryant, a PhD candidate in education, arrived at Plymouth State University 18 months ago, he hoped for academic rigor in a bucolic …

In his 50 years, Isiah Anderson, a businessman and basketball coach, has never been called the N-word – a mercy he attributes to luck, and to …

LACONIA — At local nonprofit organizations that serve human needs, donations are down and calls for help are louder and more frequent, compare…

LACONIA — With his warm smile and easy demeanor, and uncanny ability to recall the names of people he’s met, Major Mike Davis is a natural bri…

GILFORD — It was far from the recruitment-poster experience Bruce Richardson envisioned when he joined the Marine Corps in 1979. He was 17, an…

GILFORD — Post-tramatic stress disorder affects more than veterans and first responders, and occurs as the body’s and brain’s reaction to more…

GILFORD — Camp Resilience is a game changer for Christine Matott.

LACONIA — Vape shops abound in the Lakes Region. They are visual extravaganzas much like candy stores: rows and shelves of sleek tools and tas…

Free or low-cost flu vaccines are available at drug stores, walk-in care clinics, primary care providers, and even some pharmacy counters in s…

LACONIA — John Prickett, a registered nurse and emergency preparedness coordinator, has seen plenty of flu seasons in his 39 years at Lakes Re…

CLAREMONT — When Mayor Charlene Lovett surveys her hometown, she sees a history-rich city on the brink of change: Mill buildings on the Sugar …

According to New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, which has abated lead paint in 1,399 housing units statewide since 1998, many property o…

FRANKLIN — Owen Bendixsen had no idea he was opening the hatch to lead poisoning when he decided to salvage a basement door. It was a routine …

LACONIA — Christine McNeil knew something was wrong when her infant son suddenly went from consuming a bottle of formula plus two jars of baby…

LACONIA — On the eve of his reassignment to lead the Manchester Salvation Army, Captain Scott McNeil reflected on his six years in Laconia, th…

LACONIA — They are modest, compassionate to strangers and dedicated to serving people who struggle on society’s fringe – including many who ar…

GILFORD — Over the past 11 years, Pub Mania at Patrick’s Pub & Eatery was billed as “the world’s greatest barstool challenge." And with go…

LACONIA — Every Wednesday at 9 a.m., Tricia Tousignant, parent education manager at the Family Resource Center of Central New Hampshire, teach…

LACONIA — Homemade chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cakes are Victoria Abate’s hobby, as well as her favorite school project. But it was her …

LACONIA — The uppermost room at the Laconia Police Department is devoted to simulating crimes in progress. Interactive videos flash on a six-f…

GILFORD — When he was four months old, Chris Remick came to the United States from South Korea. Adopted by white parents and raised in Gilford…

ALTON — Rose Blanchard, 82, had all she could manage buying weekly groceries. It was a significantly steep hurdle bringing them up the five st…

Abby Allen’s summer job requires waking up at an hour most teenagers would consider unthinkable.

GILFORD – Will Perry just turned 18, but he’s amassed wisdom beyond his years – mostly because he did an about-face in high school, when he wa…

According to Save the Children’s report on global children's health released earlier this month, the US ranks 43 out of 180 nations – tied wit…

LACONIA — Officer Eric Adams, the Laconia Police Department’s prevention, enforcement and treatment coordinator, walks into situations that ar…

Last year, no one would have considered Brooklynn Benwell a star student – least of all herself.

LACONIA — ”Black lives deserve more than a Twitter rant. Silence = Violence.”

LACONIA — It’s a place in the woods that features touches of home. Plastic flowers in exuberant colors form a garden on either side of a strea…

TILTON — Like everyone else, Joe Bennett has good and bad days. But April 26 was especially sunny for the centenarian at the New Hampshire Vet…

LACONIA — At a time when nursing home residents nationwide are quarantined in their rooms to keep them safe from the coronavirus, the Mother’s…

LACONIA — Sixteen years years after the abuse began, the local mother profiled in this story has a full-time job that allows her and three chi…

LACONIA — She was 19 and starting college. He was 24 and seemed to be in control of his life.  After she dropped out to marry him and have chi…

On Monday night in Laconia, a significant other returning from work got into an argument over his girlfriend not doing the laundry.  He hit he…

LACONIA — In telehealth sessions via phone or computer, Jayme Sullivan, a therapist at Lakes Region Mental Health Center, gives her patients t…

LACONIA — Social worker Jayme Sullivan treats people with borderline personality disorder – a mental illness that leaves them teetering betwee…

The research is indisputable and shouldn’t be ignored: social isolation is bad for your physical and mental health. Loneliness makes you more …

LACONIA — For many of the 150 children who belong to the Boys and Girls Club of the Lakes Region, Monday now means baking with Mike, a familia…

LACONIA – Carolyn Brown’s professional landscape has changed for the foreseeable future. 

Two weeks ago, Trisha Eisner’s 56-year-old husband started experiencing alarming symptoms: fluid retention and shortness of breath that could …

LACONIA — It’s an unorthodox setting for physical training, but Alison Whitham, an instructor at the Downtown Gym, is making it work. Flanked …

LACONIA — The virtual supermarket outside the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s food pantry and thrift store on Union Avenue  features a smorga…

TILTON — Tilton-Northfield Fire & EMS advertised for six weeks for someone to replace a firefighter who left in January for an opening at …

LACONIA — At the Laconia Fire Department and others around the state, COVID-19 has changed protocols, training and dress codes for first respo…

LACONIA — It’s a mainstay for the city’s most financially vulnerable. For the first time in its nearly-40 year history, the Laconia Salvation …

LACONIA — Two weeks ago, Erika Willette of Gilford got a call from her elderly grandmother in Epsom.  The 88-year-old was completely out of bo…

TILTON — Market Basket Manager Joe Whalen said close to 100 people were waiting outside the Tilton store at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday.

LACONIA — Two Laconia police officers who are patrol partners are in quarantine after one tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend, Ch…

LACONIA — At the Belknap County Jail and House of Correction, educational programs and on-site visits with inmates have been suspended for fam…

LACONIA — In concert with government safety directives, gatherings at the Laconia Senior Center are now limited to 10 people, weekday meals at…

LACONIA — For local restaurants, business is slower or limping, safety precautions are ramped up to new levels of caution, and eateries are sw…

When an eating disorder arises, parents shouldn’t blame themselves or their children, said Beth Shehadi, a counselor at Plymouth State Univers…

LACONIA — Faith McEvoy cringes when she recalls the drama of her teenage years: losing and gaining friends, feeling uncomfortable in her own s…