An aging population requires greater health care services. Like it or not, as we age, the need for greater, and more intensive care increases. Nurses can provide much of that care, and the information patients need to access care. This is one of the reasons Laurie Harding was motivated to start the Upper Valley Community Nursing Project.

Harding, an RN with a strong background in community health care, began the program with Dr. Dennis McCullough about five years ago. Their goal was to assist communities in recruiting professional nurses to work for towns, and local parishes, in helping direct elderly residents to receive the proper health care services. Harding remains co-director of the program today. Dr. McCullough passed away in early 2016, and today, Dr. Bob Rufsvold of Lyme is her co-director.

Harding’s organization has proven successful in finding nursing professionals to work within each community, and act as a liaison to assist residents. Some of the area towns that have nurses placed through the program include Lyme, Thetford, Sharon, and Hartland. The Eastman community in Grantham also has a nurse. Additionally, church parishes such as the Church of Christ at Dartmouth have nurses placed through the Upper Valley Community Nursing Project. In all, Harding estimates about 200 elderly clients work with the nurses in the communities served.

The nurses recruited through the project are often newly retired, says Harding. As a result, they still are licensed, and have recent clinical experience. “Our nurses are very good clinicians,” says Harding, adding they are well versed in connecting their clients with the right services to help them. Besides directing clients to services, the nurses also help with direct care. “They help manage symptoms,” says Harding.

In addition to this work, Harding also serves as the president of the Headrest Board of Directors. Headrest is the Lebanon organization devoted to helping those suffering with substance abuse, or facing a crisis. Headrest offers a 24-hour hotline, a residential program, and outpatient counseling. A key component of their work involves teaching job skills, and helping the clients transition back to community life, says Harding.

Harding, who holds a masters degree in community health nursing, also served 10 years in the New Hampshire legislature, working on the health service issues she champions. Recognition of community health problems, and providing funding to assist these problems is something the state could be more proactive in, Harding says.

How did I ever get so lucky? is a question that sums up Kaelea Monahan’s attitude about her work. She is a Community Health Worker with Dartmouth’s YourTime program, a new project that connects individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 with community resources. “With my counterpart in Sullivan County, Danielle Tenney, I help people gain access to basic needs like safe housing, transportation, and employment.”

She can’t really explain how she got here. Four years ago, she joined the team at Dartmouth-Hitchcock as part of the Food and Nutrition Services Department. She loved her work and found that it provided her with valuable, transferrable skills. “Time management, team work, and multitasking are valuable skills to have,” she says, “I am grateful that the Community Improvement Health team saw these skills in me and invited me to join them.”

Kaelea has found that the key to her success with YourTime is her ability to connect with the participants on a personal level. “85% of my job is relationship building,” she says. “It also helps that I took a ‘non-traditional’ path in life to get where I am – many of our program participants can really identify with that. I can really understand where they are coming from, too.”

Relationship building doesn’t stop at the office for Kaelea. When she’s not at work, she’s working full time as a wife and mother to her two-year-old daughter. “Who has time for hobbies when you’re a mom?!” Kaelea jokes.

As a Piermont native, she is proud to be actively participating in the community both at work and at home. When asked what inspires her every day, Kaelea said that “knowing that I have the ability to help others open up – even if we’re not ‘friends’ – means a lot. Sometimes just listening can change a person’s life. My clients know I’m there for them every day.”

Lebanon was once known as “The City of Fountains” – and the Lebanon Fountain Committee is on a mission to help it live up to that name. Established in 1997 to spearhead the restoration of the Marion Carter fountain downtown, the five-member committee continues to raise funds, recruit volunteers, and strive toward the restoration and building of the fountains the city was once known for.

According to Lebanon resident and committee volunteer Priscilla Gosselin, the priority this year is to build a fountain on the downtown Mall, providing another enjoyable space where residents and visitors can gather. As the city recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Lebanon fire that destroyed much of downtown, Gosselin said it seems like a good time to create a new downtown attraction that will add to the feeling of community and fellowship.

The project has already received initial funding of $50,000 from the Timken Foundation, while Mascoma Savings Bank and the Lebanon Rotary Club are also supporters. Both also helped fund the committee’s three fountain projects completed since its establishment in 1997. The first was the refurbishment of the Marion Carter fountain and its dedication for its 100th anniversary on August 7, 1998. The second was the refurbishment of the Colburn Park fountain, with a pedestal and bowl donated by the Babineau family on Green Street. The third effort was the creation of the High Street water feature and park, commemorating the Lebanon Rotary Club’s 100th anniversary and recognizing the men and women who lived and worked on High Street in the early days of the mills on the Mascoma River.

“These fountains are a gift to the community through their continued support,” Gosselin said of the Lebanon Fountain Committee’s donors.

Of course the committee is diligently seeking further support to make the downtown Mall fountain a lasting feature of the community. Residents can support the efforts by volunteering for the committee or specific efforts, Gosselin said, giving “truly a gift of ideas” to move projects along. Donations of any amount are always appreciated, as well, and may be sent to the Lebanon Rotary Club, the fiscal sponsor for the project. Learn more about the Lebanon Fountain Committee at lebnh.net.

Nonprofit organizations. Volunteers. Fundraisers. Banks?

It may be surprising that one of the most committed nonprofit donors in the Upper Valley is a bank, but for Mascoma Savings Bank, the community is their success to support and celebrate.

One of Mascoma’s most cherished events to support is the annual Concerts for the Cause series, which provides funding for Child and Family Services, a statewide nonprofit agency with a regional office in West Lebanon. Mascoma has been active with Concerts for the Cause for more than a decade.

Child and Family Services, corporate sponsors, and ticket patrons have been coming together since 1985 to host annual Concerts for the Cause at the Lebanon Opera House and around the state. Past performers have included well-known artists like Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Arlo Guthrie, Blues Traveler, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Taj Mahal, Cowboy Junkies, Don McLean, Randy Newman, Joan Osborne, Robert Cray, and more.

In the past 28 years, these events have raised about $2.5 million to help fund the programs of Child and Family Services. The Lebanon concerts contribute significantly to the overall fundraising, adding $49,000 to the total in 2013.“

Our agency has been able to extend crisis care and daily stabilization and empowerment services to hundreds of individuals and families,” says Kat Strange, director of communications for Child and Family Services. “The money raised has helped to fill funding gaps and cover costs that are not covered under state or foundation grants for nearly all our programs, and reaches out to the most vulnerable populations. These funds also ensure that for all those who come to us seeking help, such as mental health counseling and therapy, that no one is turned away due to inability to pay. The funds from Concerts for the Cause are unrestricted, so they can be used to support programs and services as needed.”

Proceeds support child abuse prevention, intervention and treatment, foster care, home-based family strengthening services, mental health counseling, runaway and homeless youth outreach and survival aid, parent education and support, early childhood development services, healthy families home visiting to ensure babies get off to a good start in life, positive youth development programs, transitional and independent living, child advocacy, and summer camp for children from low income families.

For more information on Child and Family Services and the Concerts for the Cause, visit cfsnh.org.

Mascoma Savings Bank has always aimed to serve the best interests of the community. For that reason, when Marketing Director Samantha Pause was asked to share in sponsoring the mailing of Lebanon’s very own, good-news-only publication, she jumped at the opportunity.

By co-sponsoring the mailing, Mascoma Savings Bank makes it possible for every household, business, and organization in Lebanon and West Lebanon to receive good news in their mailbox every quarter.

Mascoma knows how important it is to help create and maintain a vibrant, healthy, and prosperous place to live and work. As President for 23 years, Steve Christy has been a solid force behind the Bank’s do-good philosophy.

“My predecessors really developed a wonderful bank and a wonderful culture which permeated the entire organization,” he says. “It has always been a great working environment. You feel like you are doing something to help your customers. It’s been a great place to have a career.”

Mascoma Savings Bank has been mutually owned since 1899. This means that it is not for sale and thus is able to maintain its commitment to reinvesting profits in the community. Its first priority has always been – and will always be – its customers.

In 1988, it established the Mascoma Savings Bank Foundation, funding it with $1,000,000 for the purpose of giving back an “ongoing dividend,” in the form of grants, to the communities responsible for the Bank’s prosperity. As of April 2013, $2,927,252 had been granted to nonprofit organizations.

When asked what has influenced the Bank’s mission to serve its community, Steve points to the people behind the institution.

“We’ve been very blessed for a long number of years to have had a great Board of Directors, a great staff, and great customers. Being mutually owned has played a significant role in all of this. We know when we come to work in the morning and we know when we leave at night who we are working for. We get to think about what is truly the best thing for our community, our customers, and our employees. And I think that helps in making decisions,” says Steve.

“All in all, I think we’ve done some good over the last 114 years.”

Individuals wishing to contribute to the Foundation may mail a check made payable to the Mascoma Savings Bank Foundation to 67 North Park Street, Lebanon, NH 03766. For more information visit mascomabank.com.

Striving to be a Cornerstone

When Lebanon resident Cinnamon Murray and her husband, Brent, opened their first Amcomm Wireless location in West Lebanon nearly eight years ago, it was the only Verizon Wireless retailer in the Upper Valley. Despite the many competitors that have sprung up since then, the company is no less unique.

The Murrays “designed the company a little differently than the way a lot of retail sales environments work,” says sales manager Jeff Temple. Employees aren’t paid on a commission basis, and customer service is the top priority, attracting business from as far away as Warner, N.H., and Randolph, Vt.

Another priority is supporting other local businesses, part of the reason the owners chose to sponsor The Lebanon Times.

“The whole ‘good people, good places’ thing really struck a chord for me, and I think it resonates what the Upper Valley’s all about,” he says.

Jeff moved to the area in 2010. Dissatisfied with the food service industry, he answered a help wanted ad that would eventually turn into “something fantastic”: His career at Amcomm Wireless.

The first staff meeting, held as usual at the Murrays’ Lebanon home, let him know this was a different kind of company.

“It was as much a social event as it was a business meeting,” he recalls. “Everybody was having a good time and really enjoying being a part of something bigger than themselves.” Jeff says the owners’ loyalty to their employees has earned high performance in return.

“You take care of your people, they take care of your customers,” he says.

Amcomm Wireless participates in Toys for Tots every year and has raised funds for David’s House. And the company plans to be even more active in community service.

“We’re going to close the store down for a Sunday and volunteer our time to better the community,” Jeff says. “What I’m looking for is for us to be not just contributing to the community—I want to be one of the cornerstone businesses in the community.”

Anyone with ideas for volunteer projects the team might take on may email him at jtemple@amcommwireless.com.

Jeff himself won’t be going anywhere soon.

“I’m passionate about what I do because I believe in what I do, and I believe in the people that run this company and the foundation they’ve built,” he says. “I’m planning to stay here for the rest of my life.”