 |
 The Grapevine Family & Community Resource Center is located on 4 Aiken Street, behind the Tuttle Library in Antrim, and serves the people of Antrim, Bennington, Hancock, Francestown, and nearby towns. The Grapevine is a member of Family Support NH and Family Support America, and was the winner of the 2006 statewide Smith Award competition which recognizes “Excellence in service to families”.
The Grapevine mission is to promote family and community health and well-being through education, support and the sharing of resources.
Grapevine programs and services support:
Parents and Family Members as the best teachers of their children;
Children, so they will be healthy and ready to learn, and
Our Community, as a healthy and supportive environment for all.
The Seed
In early 1996, a small group of townspeople got together and helped to form a play-and-learn group for young children and their parents. Families And Communities Together, a small nonprofit organization based in Greenfield, assisted the group in its efforts and successfully applied for a grant from the Health Care Fund Community Grant program to open a family and community resource center.
 Taking RootDuring the summer of 1997, The Grapevine moved from a small storefront to The Aiken House, donated to the Town of Antrim by Jim and Carol Rymes. In March 1998, the people of Antrim voted to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to renovate The Aiken House. That summer, a group of community members formed a trust to purchase the Aiken Street Barn for temporary use by The Grapevine. When it became clear that renovating the Aiken House was not feasible, the people of Antrim again supported The Grapevine at Town Meeting 2000 by voting to purchase the Aiken Street Barn. That purchase also ensured that the Tuttle Library would have the parking needed for its patrons. The barn was remodeled in early 2003 and, in June 2003, The Grapevine moved in.
Branching Out
Early in 2003, a group of citizens from Antrim, Hancock, Bennington and Francestown began meeting together with The Grapevine to take a look at the health and well-being of people in our towns. The “4-Town Citizen Group” talked about how many people--especially our elders and our young people--are isolated, are not connected to the "center" of the community. We came to the conclusion that the first step in building community health and well-being is helping people to connect with each other, and with the community. In the fall of 2003 we organized free community suppers in each of the towns, which are still going strong. When the suppers were up and running, the 4-Town group supported The Grapevine in launching The People’s Service Exchange.
Also in 2003, The Grapevine convened a group of representatives from Antrim’s organizations and government, including law enforcement, parks and recreation, the library, churches, the schools, scouts and civic groups. An early focus of the group—eventually named the Brown Bag Coalition, or BBC—was our youth, both the lack of childcare for young children of working families and the need to coordinate and expand community offerings for adolescents and teens. In August of 2005, the BBC opened the Before School Club at the Town Gym, in cooperation with Antrim Parks and Recreation. In September 2007, The Grapevine adopted the After School Club in order to keep it open. And, as a result of 9 months of planning and fund raising by teens and parents, the Avenue A teen center opened at 42 Main
Street in November 2007. Discussion about a teen center first began in the BBC in November 2006. The 4-Town Citizen group re-convened in July 2006 to re-examine the health and well-being of the community. “Aging in place,” community transportation, and youth activities were identified as priority community issues. In October 2006, the group convened the first 4-town meeting to identify transportation needs and resources in the community, and to begin developing a plan for local community transportation. The group is now working with the newly-created Contoocook Valley Transportation Cooperative to develop regional
transportation options that meet the needs of people in our rural community.
|
 Grapevine Wins Statewide Competition
The Grapevine was honored in Concord on May 16 as the winner of the statewide Smith Award competition. The selection criteria include four standards of excellence: 1) a philosophy of service that recognizes the inherent value of skillful parenting and healthy families in shaping a child’s future, 2) the organizational capacity to operate family support services in a challenging environment, 3) a program delivery system of exceptional quality, and 4) community leadership. According to Karen Carpenter, Executive Director of the NH Children’s Trust Fund, “The Smith Selection Committee felt that The Grapevine clearly met and exceeded all the standards of excellence. In just ten years, the Grapevine’s staff, board, volunteers and community have created an exceptional organization.”
Carpenter continues: “We selected The Grapevine for its community leadership, dedication to families, and the exceptional quality of their programs and service. The committee had a particularly challenging time this year—the organizations that applied were truly outstanding.” The Grapevine was one of four finalists that included The Children’s Place of Concord, Good Beginnings/Diana Love Center for Children and Families of Sullivan County, and Riverbend Parent-Child Centers in Concord, Penacook, Franklin and Hillsborough.
The Smith Award, established in 1996, is sponsored by the NH Children’s Trust Fund and funded by the Lou and Lutza Smith Foundation. The winner receives a cash prize of $15,000 over two years.
| |
