Step Up Parents - SPINNING GENEROSITY 2024

Step Up Parents offers financial assistance to grandparents and other relatives or family friends who have stepped up to raise children whose parents struggle with substance use disorder. Grandparents and other kin can provide a safe, nurturing, and structured home for children whose lives have been turned upside down and who have suffered by parental addiction. We serve as a resource and conduit to fill gaps in kinship caregiver budgets and help maintain family stability in difficult and unexpected circumstances. We respond quickly and prioritize meeting the unique needs of individual families, recognizing that the collateral impact of parental substance misuse is multi-faceted. What began as a grassroots call to action to help one kinship family is now a safety net for kinship families throughout New Hampshire and Southern Maine.

For most kinship caregivers, the cost of raising the children unexpectedly in their care is an immediate and critical threat to family stability. Our mission addresses the basic needs of children in kinship care, including food, clothing, shelter, therapeutic support services, technology upgrades for learning and special educational needs, childcare, reliable transportation, and more. We are small, private, and able to offer assistance quickly. Typically, we respond to an application within 24 hours and make a funding decision and distribution within 48 hours. We do not give money directly to families but rather pay vendors and service providers or supply a gift card for requested items. We are proud to report that we have fulfilled every request that meets our mission. By assisting kinship caregivers, we also give them more than monetary support – we give them hope and remind them that they are not alone. Step Up Parents is there when a family needs an assist, and we are built on the core belief that “Even Heroes Need a Hand.”