Reality Check, an addiction-recovery center in Jaffrey, will pivot toward prevention and mental-health programming — especially for youths — in an attempt to secure more grant money.
The move comes after the federal government slashed funding streams to local nonprofits. Now, Reality Check must make up hundreds of thousands of dollars in its budget.
“Under the new administration, there were not as many grant opportunities focused on drugs and alcohol,” said Mary Drew, Reality Check’s founder and CEO.
Drew estimated that until recently, about 80% of Reality Check’s funding came from federal sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Now, the recovery center must raise $300,000 to continue offering its services, and is expanding its mission to do so.
Reality Check is “revising the mission to incorporate other focuses, to expand the focus around behavioral health initiatives,” Drew said.
It won’t offer traditional mental health counseling, but Drew said the nonprofit will target youth well-being and prevention. That includes outdoor programs to help children develop coping, communication and leadership skills, as well as an “adulting” training series for young adults that centers around finances, parenting and family. Reality Check has applied for a new set of grants but won’t receive word on those until September.
Though some organizations are turning toward mental health for more funding, that sector of services hasn’t gone untouched. Riverbend Community Mental Health will close its adult residential housing in Concord in the coming months, citing state and federal shortfalls.
Other recovery centers in New Hampshire are shifting, too, but not always from feeling the squeeze.
Kathie Saari has pivoted away from her faith-based Gates Recovery Center in New Ipswich. The organization no longer accepts funding or hosts groups as of earlier this summer, she said, but that’s not due to any funding fallouts. Instead, she said she and her husband — both pastors — felt called to redirect. Now, they work in a less-official capacity by connecting with local churches and preparing them to serve people who turn to them for help with addiction.
Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and Concord Monitor in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.
