I know there’s a lot of people appealing for donations this time of year, but if you’re looking for a great local organization to donate to please consider one of these.
This year I ran poetry classes with Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Portsmouth, The Chase Home for Children in Portsmouth and The International Institute of New England in Manchester. These are amazing organizations serving those in our community who are struggling to fit in, overcome great obstacles and find their way. NH Poet Laureate Alice B. Fogel and I teamed up for the class at IINE and artist Christos Vayenas and I partnered for the one at Safe Harbor. They all rely on community support in the form of donations and volunteer work.
Below is some brief information on each one with links on how to contribute. Thank you to the board of the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program for their support in all these endeavors.
We all know about the opioid crisis in our country, especially here in New Hampshire. Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Portsmouth provides free services and support for the many people in our area struggling to get reconnected with themselves and the community. I don’t think anyone’s hearts are more open that those struggling to overcome addiction and those I’ve worked with at Safe Harbor have shown my own heart new depths. Donate to Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Portsmouth here: http://www.granitepathwaysnh.org/donate/
The Chase Home for Children in Portsmouth has been providing free housing, food, clothing and support for the area’s at-risk youth since 1877. In the beginning the Chase Home was an orphanage, but has evolved to provide social, academic, emotional and family services at their location on Middle Road and with home-based services to local teens and young adults. These young people are a lot of fun to work with and prove that with a little bit of listening, giant leaps forward can be made. Right now, the Chase Home is in need of a new vehicle for transportation of their residents! Donate to Wheels for Chase Home here: http://www.chasehome.org/wheels-4-chase-home/
The International Institute of New England in Manchester helps refugees and immigrants settling in New Hampshire feel safe, supported and welcome. IINE provides a number of free services that include English and art classes as well as housing and job placement. Our students were resettled from places like the Congo, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Kenya and each one of these new Americans exemplifies the spirit of hard work, optimism and inclusion. Donate to the International Institute of New England in Manchester here: https://iine.org/donate/
Thank You! Mike
Hive Poetry Project 