​Bullying can occur in multiple ways. It can be verbal, physical, through social exclusion, or via digital sources like email, texts, or social media. Unlike mutual teasing or fighting, bullying occurs when one person or a group of people is perceived as being more powerful than another and takes advantage of that power through repeated physical assaults, threats of harm, intimidation, or by purposefully excluding a person from a valued social group.
 
Being bullied can severely affect a person’s self-image, social interactions, and school performance. Bullying can lead to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, substance use, and even suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

To participate in Unity Day, check out the resources below and share them with the children in your life.
 
Kids Against Bullying
 
Kids Against Bullying is a creative, innovative and educational website designed by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center (PACER’s NBPC) for elementary school students to learn about bullying prevention, engage in activities and be inspired to take action.
 
Teens Against Bullying
 
Teens Against Bullying was created by and for teens working with PACER’s NBPC. This website is a place for middle and high school students to find ways to address bullying, to take action, to be heard, and to own an important social cause.

Since 2006, PACER’s NBPC has actively led social change to prevent childhood bullying, so that all youth are safe and supported in their schools, communities, and online.
 
Founded in 1977, PACER Center was created by parents of children and youth with disabilities to help other parents and families facing similar challenges. Today, PACER Center expands opportunities and enhances the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families. PACER is staffed primarily by parents of children with disabilities

​Are you concerned about the crisis of homelessness?

You can make a difference by contributing to our fundraising campaign to furnish Bay Street Apartments in Laconia. This property will provide 12 efficiency apartments for people of very low income who are experiencing homelessness. The project is currently under construction with completion scheduled for March 2025. To set the future tenants up for success, we want to provide durable furnishings for all 12 apartments.

We seek business sponsors and individual donors. Click below to see the sponsorship levels or to make your donation today. Thank you!

​Congressman Chris Pappas recently stopped by our office to learn about our Bay Street Apartments project and discuss the importance of supportive housing in addressing the crisis of unsheltered homelessness in the Lakes Region.
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Thank you to the team at Lakes Region Mental Health Center (LRMHC) our supportive services partner in the Bay Street project, for your advocacy on housing needs for the people you serve.

Pictured left in front of the Bay Street site: Beth Vachon, LRMHC; Carmen Lorentz, LRCD; Congressman Pappas; Christine Alvarez, LRMHC; and Senia LaForte, LRMHC.

Site work is wrapping up on Bay Street, and the crew is readying to pour the concrete slab this week. Construction is on schedule so far, with completion planned for late March 2025.

Thanks to our design and construction team, including Northpoint Engineering, Stewart Associates Architects, and Bauen Corporation. We encountered a couple unforeseen challenges during the site work phase, but the team handled them expertly.
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We are happy to be up out of the ground now!

​We are gearing up to make approximately $700,000 in improvements at Millview Apartments in Laconia. This project was built in 2003 and contains 18 apartments in five buildings on Union Avenue and up above on Locust and Jameson Streets.

​After over 20 years, the property is in need of upgrades, including new siding, new roofs, new boilers, and landscaping. We will also install rooftop solar arrays on the three south-facing buildings.

Funding for these improvements is provided by a Community Development Block Grant from NH Community Development Finance Authority and a grant from the Renewable Energy Fund at the NH Department of Energy.

Laconia Multicultural Festival
​A Celebration of Music, Arts, Crafts, and Cuisine in Downtown Laconia
 
Saturday, September 7th
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Rotary Park and City Hall
45 Beacon St East, Laconia
 
This free, family-friendly event highlights the music, arts, crafts and cuisine of Laconia’s diverse community, from its earliest days to recently-arrived New Americans. The Festival was conceived and is supported by the Laconia Human Relations Committee, as well as many local businesses and individual sponsors.
 
Click here for more information.

​Concord Multicultural Festival
​Sunday, September 22nd
11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Keach Park, Concord
 
The Concord Multicultural Festival is a vibrant event that celebrates the rich diversity of the City of Concord. The mission of the Festival is to promote cultural understanding and appreciation through a variety of art demonstrations, music and dance performances, and more.
 
Each year, the Festival features a full lineup of performances, food vendors, craft vendors, artists, activities, and parade of flags that represent more than 70 cultures from around the world, presented by folks who live and work locally.
 
Visit their website for more information.

​Recovery Month was started in September of 1989 to celebrate the recovery community and to highlight the importance of evidence-based treatment and recovery practices.
 
Recovery Month celebrates the gains made by those in recovery to reinforce the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover.
 
There are millions of Americans whose lives have been transformed through recovery. Recovery Month provides a vehicle for everyone to celebrate these accomplishments together.

​Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region, based in Laconia, is a grassroots collaborative organization creating a supportive and recovery-informed community for those affected by Substance Use Disorder.
 
Their recovery center is focused on providing an open door for people seeking and/or embracing recovery as they begin and maintain a path for a productive life free from the harmful impacts of alcohol or other drugs.
 
Navigating Recovery offers FREE Recovery Support Services:

• One on one and telephone coaching / mentorship for people in ALL stages of recovery
• Helping you find detox/rehab/treatment
• Linking you to other community resources, such as Intensive Outpatient Programs and Medication Assisted Treatment
• Host location for meetings and other programs
• Parenting Journey in Recovery
• Resources and support for family & friends

8th Annual International Overdose Awareness Day Vigil
Saturday, August 31st
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Rotary Park, 30 Beacon St East, Laconia
 
Join Navigating Recovery in their International Overdose Awareness Day campaign to remember those who have passed on due to an overdose, to acknowledge those who are left behind after a loss, and, most importantly, to end overdose.
 
Would you like to display a photo of a loved one at the vigil?
Stop by Navigating Recovery at 102 Court St during normal business hours to drop off your photo.
 
Would you like them to read off the name of a loved one at the vigil?
Email [email protected], or you can sign up when you arrive at the vigil.
 
Support the campaign by purchasing a t-shirt, tank, or hoodie.

​White Horse Recovery is a non-profit behavioral health center with locations in Ossipee, North Conway, and Littleton NH. They offer comprehensive secular and faith-based substance use disorder programs and mental health services for adults and families. They also offer ongoing recovery support programs to help adults through their recovery process. White Horse Recovery is based on Christian principles; they welcome everyone regardless of faith. White Horse meets everyone where they are along their journey, working with each individual to develop the most appropriate treatment program.

​Bridge to Recovery Walk 
Sunday, September 22, 2024
8:30 am registration, 9:00 am walk begins
15 Aiken Ave, Franklin
 
This is a two-mile walk that begins and ends at Concord Hospital-Franklin.
 
$30 registration fee (youth 14 and under are free). Proceeds benefit mental health and substance use disorder programs and services in Laconia and Franklin.
 
Click here to register.

Left to right: Dean Donati, Deputy Director of Laconia Housing; Carmen Lorentz of LRCD; Cathy Bowler, Executive Director of Laconia Housing

Thank You Laconia Housing! We appreciate your support. 

We need the financial support of our local business community in order to produce more units of affordable housing for essential workers. Most housing developments that we undertake cost us $300,000 before we can get a shovel in the ground.

Email [email protected] today if your business would like to be a Housing Champion or Advocate.

Stay tuned next month as we launch a fundraising campaign to furnish Bay Street Apartments. This 12-unit supportive housing project will have a preference for individuals experiencing homelessness. We want to give each tenant the best chance at success by furnishing the units with sturdy, durable items. We also want to provide bike racks and furniture on the side porch and in the back yard.

Thank you to Bank of New Hampshire for donating some of their lightly used office furniture for the tenant lounge at Bay Street. This gives us a good head start on furnishing the building!

If you are interested in supporting this effort, please reach out to Carmen Lorentz at [email protected] and stay tuned for more details in September!

​We are unlikely to be able to begin construction on our 30-unit general occupancy project in Wolfeboro this year. We put the project out to bid in May. The bids came back higher than we budgeted, which is happening with a lot of new construction projects these days. We are doing some value engineering to reduce the costs, and we are seeking additional funding from NH Housing and Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. It will take a few months to secure additional funds. Our hope is that construction will begin in spring 2025.
 
We greatly appreciate our longstanding partnership with Eastern Lakes Region Housing Coalition and the Town of Wolfeboro, as well as the support of NH Housing, NH Community Development Finance Authority, Evernorth, and MVSB.

​Residents at Harriman Hill Phases 1 & 2 in Wolfeboro hosted an ice cream social for the kids at their bus stop to celebrate their last day of school. This is just one of the great projects that the Harriman Hill Resident Council has worked on together this year. Great community spirit over there in Wolfeboro!

​Thank you to all the residents who made this happen - what a great way for the kids to start out their summer!

​The community garden at Pinecrest Apartments in Meredith, NH was built back in 2017 and it was in need of an overhaul.

Tenants worked together earlier this summer to construct sturdier new beds and fill them up with garden soil. We can't wait to see the harvest from this dedicated group of volunteers!