Dover, NH – Thanks to a $60,000 grant from Jane’s Trust, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire will be able to welcome hundreds more children, families and schools facing challenging circumstances during the coming year. The Jane’s Trust grant will bolster the resources of the museum’s Reach All Initiative, a portfolio of outreach programs developed to serve children, families, and schools with extremely limited resources and those in difficult circumstances.
 
“This generous grant from Jane’s Trust will make a very positive difference in our capacity to offer hands-on learning experiences to children who might otherwise not be able to visit a children’s museum,” stated Denise Doleac, director of the Children’s Museum of NH. “We have a long-standing commitment to provide access for all, regardless of ability to pay. We can now invite many more schools and families into the museum to spark imaginations through exploration of our wide variety of exhibits and activities.”
 
The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire’s five Reach All Initiative programs currently include:

• Exploring Our Way – Children’s Museum of NH’s Autism Partnership Program, offering special opportunities for families with children with autism to visit the museum at no charge when it is closed to the public
• Museum InReach, providing subsidized curriculum-based visits to the museum for Title I schools
• Free Family Nights, granting free museum admission to vulnerable and low- to moderate-income families
• Funded Memberships Program, providing free museum passes to social service agencies for their clients
• Story Explorers, presenting an in-depth literacy program to Head Start families

These programs are designed to improve the quality of life of thousands of students and families who struggle daily from a multitude of hardships associated with poverty, homelessness, physical abuse, and mental illnesses. Three of the five programs have been in existence for several years, while Exploring Our Way and Story Explorers were launched in 2009. To fulfill its mission and goals as a larger, statewide institution, the museum is deeply committed to strengthening each programming, further developing its capacity to successfully deliver the programs, and to refresh and expand content and curricula.  As the museum continues to transform into a fully statewide institution, it anticipates that 20 new partnerships will be developed with new social service and community agencies over the next two years. The goal is to reach into more of the region’s underserved communities and provide access to the museum’s resources.
 
About Jane’s Trust
Jane’s Trust supports a broad range of organizations in the fields of education, children and youth, health and welfare, the environment, and the arts, with a particular focus on northern New England and Florida. 

About the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire
The not-for-profit Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is located at 6 Washington Street in Dover and offers two levels of hands-on, custom-created exhibits for children ages 1-12. Children can explore a wide range of subjects, from dinosaurs, music and aeronautics to world cultures, art and natural history. Open year-round, the museum hosts a variety of live performances, workshops, classes and special events for families. Since its expansion and move to Dover in July 2008, the museum has welcomed more than 230,000 visitors from all 50 U.S. states and 16 other countries. For more information, please call the museum at (603) 742-2002 or visit www.childrens-museum.org.