After an internal organizational collapse, the Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention is being absorbed by a Claremont-based organization, the latter announced this week.

The shift will provide MCVP with leadership and governance while preserving local programming, a news release from the Claremont organization, The Center for Safer Communities, said. The move comes after the entire MCVP board of directors resigned in March, according to documents the N.H. Charitable Trusts Unit filed in Cheshire County Superior Court.

That agency filed a lawsuit in April to have MCVP turned over to a receiver. The Charitable Trusts Unit argued MCVP lacked “both the governance and management necessary to meet the demands upon it.”

A receiver is a court-ordered remedy in which a third-party appointed by the court takes over control of a company or nonprofit. A judge granted the receivership that same month.

MCVP, based on Court Street in Keene, has been operating in the region since the ’70s.

While it was in OK shape financially, the lawsuit said it lacked the management to keep up with requirements attached to some of its funding sources, including significant grants administered by the N.H. Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Like MCVP, The Center for Safer Communities is a member of that coalition. Both centers are nonprofits that provide free services to people who are experiencing or have survived domestic violence, sexual violence and/or stalking. Services include 24/7 crisis support, emergency shelter, safe housing, case management, court advocacy, safety planning, peer support, prevention education and community outreach.

Safer Communities will maintain a presence and designated staff in the Monadnock Region, including emergency shelter services, the news release said.

The organization said it also plans to continue MCVP’s prevention-focused work in schools and communities, and to work through a community listening process to learn about the Monadnock Region’s needs and priorities.

The release also noted the transition “represents a new opportunity for current and former MCVP supporters to help rebuild and sustain services.”

Organizational collapse

As of April, MCVP had 11 employees serving people harmed by domestic violence and sexual assault in Cheshire County and western Hillsborough County, the Charitable Trusts Unit said in the lawsuit.

At that time, the organization’s board lacked a treasurer — a position required by its bylaws — and, with six remaining members, was nearing the five-member bottom limit.

Just three of those board members had served more than six months.

Then-Executive Director Michelle Trombley was the third person to serve as executive director since 2024, according to the lawsuit.

During her tenure, the lawsuit alleged, the MCVP board and MCVP management “experienced a near-complete breakdown in communication.”

Interpersonal issues and allegations of professional failures inflamed conflict between the board and MCVP management, the complaint recounted.

After a meeting with Trombley in March, the entire board resigned, according to the court records, which said Charitable Trusts Unit staff later convinced some of those members to stay on to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities.

N.H. Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence finance staff ultimately determined that MCVP management would not be capable of providing the appropriate documentation to preserve funding sources, according to the court documents.

“MCVP leadership’s inability to fulfill these requirements, as well as to obtain and/or communicate information about MCVP’s financial status, has left the organization in a self-inflicted crisis,” the Charitable Trusts Unit wrote in the lawsuit.

The board, which had repeatedly asserted its inability to get financial details, voted to turn its authority over to a court-appointed receiver, documents filed in court stated.

Judge Anne Edwards granted that receivership on April 27, putting nonprofit attorney Joshua Sattely in charge of managing MCVP.

About a week later, MCVP announced the appointment of Hunter Kirschner as interim executive director, replacing Trombley.

In his first report, filed in July, Sattely told the court MCVP did not have written financial polices or a single audit available, had significant gaps in programming, repeated breaches of confidentiality, staff training issues, understaffing and “fractured community relationships,” among other problems.

Trombley could not immediately be reached at a publicly listed number Wednesday. Former MCVP board members could not be reached or declined to comment. An attempt to reach MCVP management was directed to Sattely Wednesday.

A new way forward

In his report to the court, Sattely wrote that MCVP ceasing operations would be damaging for residents of the Monadnock Region.

“The work of MCVP is incredibly important,” he wrote. “Lives are literally at stake and cessation of programs would be a case of absolute last resort.”

Center for Safer Communities Executive Director Pascale Graham said Wednesday the shared mission will be at the heart of MCVP’s absorption by that agency.

She said the goal is not just stabilization and continuation of MCVP’s services but ultimately expansion.

For the Claremont organization, it’s “an extension of the work we’re doing to cover all of Southwestern New Hampshire.”

Graham said there shouldn’t be any disruption to emergency services. Some of MCVP’s direct service staff will continue on, she said, and Safer Communities plans to hire additional staff to serve the Monadnock Region, too.

Graham and the organization’s assistant director will also have a presence in the region, she said.

The Keene emergency shelter, which Graham said has been operating “in a limited capacity,” will continue to be a resource, she said.

“It’s a big change; MCVP is such a community presence,” Graham said. “… We’re here to make sure we’re preserving essential services.”

Abigail Ham can be reached at 603-355-8554 or aham@keenesentinel.com.

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