Making A Difference in New Hampshire
Nashua Care Net
www.carenetnh.org
In the Fall of 2009, Hope and Life sent $1,000 donation to Nashua Care Net to provide diapers for needy moms.
Nashua Care Net provides pregnancy tests and support services as well as information on abortion procedures and pregnancy options to expecting moms.
Academy of Learning and Technology
In the Fall of 2008, Hope and Life sent $1,000.00 to help provide boots and gloves for the students at the Academy of Learning and Technology, an alternative school in Nashua.
Burundi Resettlement Project
Hope and Life is involved in the Burundi resettlement project based in Nashua, NH. Local organizations and churches have joined together to help five Burundi families that were relocated to Nashua during the fall of 2007. These families escaped Burundi in 1972 during? the war between the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s and went to live in a refugee camp in the Congo. In the mid 90’s they were forced to relocate to Tanzania because the government was forcing refugees to return to Burundi, which was still volatile. These five families walked into Tanzania, losing many family members to hunger along the way. Until the fall of 2007, they lived in a refugee camp in Tanzania. During September and October of 2007, each of these families were relocated to Nashua by the International Institute, a refugee placement network in Boston, MA.
During relocation, each family receives four months of government funding to help them establish themselves. This funding will run out early in 2008 and these families will be left to support themselves.
Hope and Life has joined with other churches and groups in the Nashua community to help the Burundi families establish themselves. We have started a supply bank of food, personal items and clothes so each family has access to these items as needed. Additionally, Hope and Life has helped sponsor weekly ESL classes to give the Burundians an opportunity to practice English.
Because we foresee Nashua becoming a more popular relocation destination for refugees in the future, we have begun meeting with our mayor to ask that policies and plans be set into place to ensure that these families are supported long enough to have success in becoming valuable working citizens in our community.
Grace Children's Home
www.gracechildrenshome.org
Grace Children's Home, Inc. is the fulfillment of a dream. With the adoption of their son, Noah, Keith & Cherith Marsh realized it really was possible to love other peoples' children as much as their own. At the same time they became aware of the emerging crisis in our foster care system. They gathered a team and went to work! Their research showed that the single most important variable determining how well children develop was whether they grew up in a stable, loving family. This, really, is at the heart of Grace Children's Home.
In 1997 & 1998, money was raised and a beautiful, 15-bedroom home on 25 acres of land in Springfield, New Hampshire was purchased to launch the vision. Children began arriving late in 1999. Since then, 26 children have come through their doors. Most have been adopted; some have returned home to their families and some are still with Marshes! Grace Children's Home is one of many new ideas emerging to help meet the growing needs in the Foster Care system.
Hope and Life continues to support Grace Chldren's Home financially with periodic donations to help cover operating costs.
Learn more about Grace Children's Home at their website: www.gracechildrenshome.org
Tolles Street Mission
www.tsmm.org
52 Whitney Street
Nashua, New Hampshire 03064
Main: (603) 880-4984
Tolles Street Mission is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian ministry geared toward meeting the immediate needs of the poor. As an outreach ministry, Tolles Street Mission aims to enrich the people’s knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ by bringing God’s heart to the heart of the city.
