Building Community In New Hampshire

Medical/Childhood nutrition: Our case managers-all trained as community health workers-ensured that our clients received required vaccinations and had access to medical care and insurance. Our focus on childhood nutrition and exercise reached dozens of families. We helped 80 families to enroll in SNAP and helped 123 people file for Medicaid. We helped 157 others with medical services ranging from TB testing and COVID vaccinations to securing emotional wellness services.

Refugee Education and Training: As part of our emphasis on employment, we helped clients enroll in job training programs supported by the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. Approximately 20 people each week attended our on-site classes in English for Speakers of Other Languages. Eight older Bhutanese refugees met with us virtually to improve their English and to prepare for their citizenship tests.

Community Building and Civic Engagement: For many years, BCNH has helped refugees prepare for their citizenship tests. In 2024 we expanded that work, helping numerous New Americans register to vote and then get out to the polls. We helped build a foundation for lifelong civic engagement by convening sessions in Concord and Manchester where refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Ukraine, and Bhutan - some citizens, some newly arrived - could talk with their school board members, city councilors, and a mayor. To foster connections across ethnicities, and to broaden our clients' understanding of their new home state and New Hampshire's natural beauty, we took them on two field trips to the White Mountains.