Lakes Region Mental Health Center

Donate
24%
$730
Raised
$3,000
Goal
12
Donors

Our Story

Lakes Region Mental Health Center is the community mental health center providing mental and physical health care for 24 towns in Belknap and southern Grafton counties in New Hampshire. LRMHC serves more than 4,000 patients and provides an average of $500,000 in charity care each year to those who cannot afford services. 

A non-profit, private corporation founded in 1966, Lakes Region Mental Health Center is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors dedicated to our mission. We provide integrated mental and physical health care to children, adults, elders and their families who are living with – and recovering from- mental illness and/or emotional distress.

Our dedicated professionals provide the highest quality of healthcare and collaborate with many other organizations in the region to improve access to care and meet the mental health needs of the community. By working in partnership with other health care providers, hospitals, law enforcement, corrections, courts, school districts, social workers and public health officials, we are able to provide a continuum of care for our patients and improve the quality of life in the Lakes Region.

2025 NH Gives Focus Area

There are many opinions about the causes of the homelessness crisis, but the data shows that homelessness continues to rise primarily due to a lack of affordable housing. The area served by Lakes Region Mental Health Center reported 1,258 homeless individuals in 2024. Of these, 871 were sheltered—living in emergency shelters or transitional housing, while 387 were unsheltered, with no shelter at all, living outside or in their vehicles. 

The greater Lakes Region is fortunate to have many community agencies that collaborate to pool their resources to assist those who, often through no fault of their own, find themselves without stable housing or shelter. However, these resources have recently been reduced or eliminated. We need your help to continue assisting our most vulnerable citizens. 

Lakes Region Mental Health Center is fortunate to receive funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to staff efforts addressing homelessness among people with mental illness, including a full-time street outreach worker. This dedicated staff member meets individuals wherever they are to build relationships, help meet basic needs, and engage people experiencing homelessness in therapy and recovery services. 

The supplies that are most needed right now include non-perishable canned food items that do not require refrigeration; can openers to access the food; reloadable laundry cards to help people maintain cleanliness and health; and gas cards for the cars in which individuals are living, enabling them to attend medical appointments, charge their phones, and commute to work, allowing them to stay employed and save for stable housing. Finally, many unsheltered individuals face serious medical issues and often need a roof over their heads and a safe, warm bed to recover in. The cities in our area do their part to help provide for this need but are overwhelmed with requests, and their budgets are running dry.

We need your help this NH Gives!

Your gift of:

$10: provides 2 can openers so people can access their donated cans of food items

$20: to purchase of a laundry gift card so a person can do three loads of laundry

$25: feeds a person up to five non-perishable meals

$50: provides two tanks of gas for a person who is living in their vehicle

$100: one night in a hotel for a medically fragile person who needs a place to recover after a medical procedure or illness