For moms like Maranda Byam, time for yourself can be hard to come by. So, when she discovered a program at Grapevine Family and Community Resource Center that coupled playtime for kids with a social group for moms, it made a difference.
Byam, a stay-at-home mom in Antrim raising four children under age 5, has found lasting friendships and community since she started attending programs at Grapevine.
“We talk about important things that are going on in our life, how to deal with certain age groups in kids, or if there are kids in our families in our group that are struggling with certain stuff, we kind of try to get together and help out,” Byam said. “It’s kind of its own community.”
Almost all programming at Grapevine is free, with the nonprofit supported by donations, as well as state and federal grants. That funding has become uncertain this year as the Trump administration uproots federal spending.
U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander visited Grapevine on Tuesday to talk with staff and community members about how those shakeups, and the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress, have impacted the center.
“In this environment, it’s been a whole lot of defense and a whole lot of learning about what’s going to happen with this bill,” Goodlander said. “Community health providers, health centers, are the best in the business right now … These are the places that are able to deliver people the care they need when they need it. They’re going to be under the most strains in this bill.”
Two such health centers in New Hampshire have already announced they’ll close their doors as a result of federal overhauls.
Grapevine itself lost at least $10,000 in March when the Department of Health and Human Services clawed back $80 million it had promised to New Hampshire for substance abuse and mental health services. Most of that money was earmarked to help support the center’s intake operations and provide immediate assistance to people in crisis.
Melissa Gallagher, Grapevine’s executive director, said because she was vocal about the cuts and what could suffer as a result, the community rallied around them and Grapevine ended up recouping the loss through fundraising.
For Grapevine and other community services, like housing and healthcare, Goodlander said she’s heard from many town selectboards that are running out of money to help.
“Every town I’ve gone to is, they’ve already blown past their welfare budget,” Goodlander said. “Here we are in August, and we haven’t even reached what is often the worst period of the year.”
Goodlander said she’s concerned about the cuts to Medicaid, too. Though much of the details and impacts are still unknown, she warned insurance rates will go up.
“No matter how you get your insurance, it’s going to be more expensive and harder to find the care that you need,” Goodlander said.
Along with housing, childcare has also become unaffordable for many Granite Staters. Byam said she’d considered going back to work, but childcare for her four children would’ve been much too expensive.
“It’s really hard,” Byam said. “With my husband’s job, and the kids, now that we’ve got a kindergartener and two going to preschool, you’ve got to pay for preschool. We can’t pay for childcare on top of that.”
That’s why the Better Beginnings program at Grapevine is so helpful, she said – it’s a free group that lets the kids play in a separate room and feels like free therapy, to an extent.
“It’s like a mini therapy session,” Byam said. “It’s a safe place for all of us to be able to go and talk about stuff that you’re probably not talking [about] with your spouse or anybody else in your family.”
Byam wasn’t the only one who said she struggles with paying for childcare. Other staffers said they’d heard similar stories of parents forgoing work for that reason, and Goodlander agreed.
“We’ve got so many people who are making the completely painful choice to leave the workforce, leave jobs they love,” Goodlander said, “because they can’t afford to work.”
