Fun in the Streets

The fourth annual street fair drew a festive crowd on Saturday, June 6, 2009. Learn more at SeacoastLocalFest.org.

 And our great community photography exhibit has gone online. Check it out at SeacoastLocalPhoto.org..

 Thanks to our sponsors:  Broadreach Research and Consulting, Whalen Public and Media Relations, Seacoast Asset Management, and local volunteers.

There are games, live performances from local artists, a digital photo exhibit, and a community art project, but the Seacoast Local Festival is also about bringing the Seacoast community and our nonprofits together to highlight, encourage and sustain the natural and important connections among us. Our nonprofits help those of us in need, they ensure that art and its many benefits are ever-present here, they preserve the history that sets the Seacoast apart from other “tourist destinations,” they encourage and support our local agriculture and food economy and they work hard to both preserve and showcase our precious and wonderfully accessible natural resources.

Community Map

To enhance those connections throughout the year, we offer a non-profit Community Map here to highlight, encourage and sustain the natural and important connections among us.

 These days, we need our nonprofits more than ever—to brighten our days, to help us when things are ugly, to take care of the environment) and they need us—to volunteer, to recognize them, to appreciate their good work and to provide fiscal support. It's a relationship that is important, and sustaining for our community. 

The Seacoast Local Community Map is about nourishing the organizations and the connections to those organizations that help each of us to thrive, and:

To Entertain Ourselves

• Art-Speak, Portsmouth's Cultural Commission - promotes appreciation, awareness, participation, and dialogue in support of arts and culture - 603-610-7222 - www.art-speak.org
• Ballet New England - a non-profit pre-professional fine art school of dance and professional ballet company - 603-430-9309 - www.balletnewengland.org
• Music Hall - presents the very best of diverse performing and related arts and serves as an active and vital arts center for the enrichment of the Seacoast community - 603-436-2400 - www.themusichall.org
• Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC) - provides people with the opportunity to achieve their full creative potential - 603-431-4278 - www.pmaconline.org
• Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival - celebrates the local and national heritage of seafaring and maritime trades by taking nautical songs and music to the streets of Portsmouth - www.newenglandfolknetwork.org/pmff

To Inform Ourselves

• Gundalow Company - promotes awareness of maritime heritage by using a replica gundalow in collaboration with other nonprofit organizations - 603-433-9505 - www.gundalow.org/
• Seacoast African American Cultural Center - celebrates the lives and achievements of black people, with emphasis on the unique story of African Americans in the Seacoast - 603-436-6027 - http://saacc-nh.org/
• Seacoast Science Center - creating connections to nature through personal experience - 603-436-8043 - www.seacentr.org
• Strawbery Banke Museum - preserves an actual community where visitors can connect with the past; serving as a resource for educators, and the community - 603-433-1114 - www.strawberybanke.org
• Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation - promotes awareness and conservation of the marine environment through education and research - 603-431-0260 - www.blueoceansociety.org
• Warner House - an association dedicated to preserving the Warner House for the community to enjoy through guided tours - 603-436-5909 - www.warnerhouse.org
• WSCA - operates a nonprofit, listener supported, volunteer driven, noncommercial FM community radio station dedicated to serving the greater Portsmouth community- 603-430-9722 - Portsmouth Community Radio - www.wscafm.org   

To Finance and Invest in Ourselves:

• City of Portsmouth - www.cityofportsmouth.com
• Fair Tide - Provides safe, dignified affordable housing and comprehensive support services to formerly homeless individuals and families - 207-439-6376 - www.fairtide.org
• Seacoast Local - a network dedicated to promoting community involvement in local business - 603-766-1775 - seacoastlocal.org
• United Way of the Greater Seacoast - works to advance the common good by focusing on education, income, and health - 603-436-6349 - www.uwgs.org
• Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast - a catalyst for the development of a range of housing options for the diverse workforce in the Greater Seacoast region - 603-766-3231 - www.seacoastwhc.org 

To Heal and Serve Ourselves:

• A Safe Place - breaks the cycle of abuse by providing crisis intervention, support services, education and advocacy to survivors, their families and the community - 603-436-4619 - www.asafeplacenh.org
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Seacoast - provides one-to-one mentoring for hundreds of vulnerable children and teens ages 6-17, helping children in our community have brighter futures through the dedicated involvement of hundreds of volunteers - 603-430-1140 - www.nhseacoastbigbrothersbigsisters.org
• Families First Health and Support Center - provides a broad range of health and family support services to individuals and families, regardless of ability to pay - 603-422-8208 - www.familiesfirstseacoast.org
• Great Bay Services - an organization dedicated to assisting people with developmental disabilities live and work as valued member of the Seacoast Community - 603-436-2014 - www.greatbayservices.org 
• New Generation, Inc. - provides love, respect and care in a safe environment to pregnant homeless women and mothers of young children - 603-436-4989 - www.newgennh.com
• Seacoast YMCA - puts into practice the positive values of respect, caring, honesty, and responsibility through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body - 603-431-2334 - www.seacoastymca.org
• Sexual Assault Support Services - dedicated to supporting victims of sexual assault, while striving to prevent the occurrence of sexual assault in local communities and society at large - 603-436-4107 - www.sassnh.org
• Feminist Health Center of Portsmouth - Committed to feminist ideals of how health care should be practiced - 603-436-7588 - www.fhc-p.org
• Seacoast Outright - Working to ensure equal opportunity for all seacoast youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity - 603-431-1013 - www.seacoastoutright.org

To Feed Ourselves:

• Seacoast Eat Local - works to connect consumers with local grown and locally made foods -  www.seacoasteatlocal.org
• Seacoast Growers Association - runs six farmers' markets in the Seacoast region - 603-658-0280 - www.seacoastgrowers.org
• Slow Food Seacoast - an organization made up of community members in support of good, clean, and fair food - slowfoodseacoast.blogspot.com