Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Human Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Nonprofits urge Tamworth funding for pantry, shelter and family services ahead of Town Meeting
Summary
Tri-County Community Action, the Community Food Center, Children Unlimited and Starting Point presented petitioned funding requests Jan. 13; requests range from $2,000 (amended) to $6,490 and outline services for hundreds of local residents.
Several local nonprofits presented petitioned funding requests to the Tamworth Select Board during the Jan. 13 meeting, outlining 2025 service volumes and asking the town to include support on the 2026 warrant.
Jeanie Robillard described Tri-County Community Action’s request for $6,327, saying the Tamworth Resource building has a new vestibule and that the on-site dental center has been closed since November; Robillard said two other entities have expressed interest in reopening a dental clinic. Robillard reported TRICAP served 446 individuals (226 households) in Tamworth in 2025 and continues to support food pantry deliveries, a diaper depot and coat drives.
Maureen Diamond said the Community Food Center initially requested $5,000 but will amend that request on the floor at Town Meeting to $2,000 after a December donation from Revo Casino; she noted the pantry serves Tamworth and Sandwich and outlined 2025 highlights and 2026 challenges.
Cathy Livingston asked the board to continue funding Children Unlimited at $3,822, noting services expanded to 67 Tamworth families in 2025; Lianne Prentice highlighted kinship parenting supports for relatives raising grandchildren. Raetha Stoddard described Starting Point’s $6,490 request to fund a 24/7 crisis line and victim services that the organization estimates will serve 37 Tamworth residents; Starting Point dispatches advocates to hospitals and police departments and provides emergency shelter options in Carroll County.
Welfare Officer Paul Preistman summarized town casework, saying the “calendar year went out like a lamb and came in like a lion” as staff dealt with relocation coordination and connections to HUD and housing authority services.
The funding requests will appear on the warrant for consideration by voters at Town Meeting on March 11, 2026.
