Online resources


The Children's Alliance encourages you to use your voice, your pen, your keyboard and your vote to speak up for children, who, in the words of child advocate Marian Wright Edelman, "cannot vote, cannot lobby, who indeed, need our help to ensure their well-being."

To raise your voice for children, you may want to contact some of the organizations listed below. We have divided the contacts into elected officials, information sources, and news media.

Elected officials
Elected officials have been divided into two categories: New Hampshire and Congress.
To contact your state or federal elected officials, we invite you to explore our easy-to-use Legislative Action Center. With it, you can find out what proposals are pending in the State House and in Congress, be connected with the officials representing you in just a few keystrokes, and send or edit our pre-written messages, or write your own.

New Hampshire officials
The best source for all kinds of state government information is Webster, a user-friendly web site with contact information for the Governor's office, NH House and Senate, and state agencies. You can go to pages on your representatives, read the text and status of bills, learn about new government initiatives, and read state press releases and reports.

Congress
To contact your representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, you may use the addresses below:

Senator Judd Gregg
Web site: http://gregg.senate.gov/
email: mailbox@gregg.senate.gov
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3324
Fax: (202) 224-4952

Sen. Gregg's New Hampshire offices
60 Pleasant Street
Berlin, NH 03570
Phone: (603) 752-2604

125 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: (603) 225-7115

41 Hooksett Road
Manchester, NH 03104
Phone: (603) 622-7979

16 Pease Boulevard
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Phone: (603) 431-2171

Senator John Sununu
Web site: http://sununu.senate.gov/
111 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2841
Fax: (202) 228-4131

Sen. Sununu's New Hampshire offices
60 Pleasant St.
Berlin, NH 03570
Phone: (603) 752-6074
Fax: (603) 752-6423

50 Opera House Square
Claremont, NH 03743
Phone: (603) 542-4872
Fax: (603) 542-6582

1589 Elm Street, Suite 3
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: (603) 647-7500
Fax: (603) 647-9352

One New Hampshire Avenue
Suite 120
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Phone: (603) 430-9560
Fax: (603) 430-0058

Representative Charles Bass
Web site: www.house.gov.bass/
email: cbass@mail.house.govv
2421 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2901
Phone: (202) 225-5206
Fax: (202) 225-2946

Rep. Bass's New Hampshire district offices
142 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: (603) 226-0249
Fax: (603) 226-0476

One West Street, Suite 208
Keene, NH 03431
Phone: (603) 358-4094
Fax: (603) 358-5092

76 Main Street, Suite 2C
Littleton, NH 03561
Phone: (603) 444-1271

170 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
Phone: (603) 889-8772
Fax: (603) 884-6890

Representative Jeb Bradley
Web site: www.house.gov.bradley/
email: bradley@mail.house.govv
1218 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2091
Phone: (202) 225-5456
Fax: (202) 225-5822

Rep. Bradley's New Hampshire district offices
104 Washington Street
Dover, NH 03820
Phone: (603) 743-4813
Fax: (603) 743-5956

1095 Elm Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: (603) 641-9536
Fax: (603) 641-9561

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Information sources
We have divided information sources into New Hampshire and national resources.

New Hampshire organizations

American Cancer Society
The latest news in cancer research, treatment, prevention, and legislation.

Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families
A county department created in January 2002, the Council works to develop (1) a county-wide plan for the well-being of all children and families, (2) increased citizen interest and involvement, (3) a continuum of programs and services for children and families, and (4) strong and effective advocacy for children and families in Belknap County.

Family Resource Connection
The Family Resource Connection is a lending library of books, videos, journal articles and other child-related materials. Materials are mailed free of charge to New Hampshire residents with postage-paid envelopes enclosed for their return. (Or you can stop by the State Library at 20 Park St. in Concord, or call 800-298-4321).

National Congress for Fathers and Children - NH Chapter
The National Congress for Fathers and Children assists state and local efforts to help fathers to remain actively involved in the lives of their children regardless of martial status.

New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies
The independent, non-profit, non-partisan New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies provides data-based research on public policy matters, develops options, informs policymakers and advises them about choices for action. Established in 1996, the Center is affiliated with the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research at the University of New Hampshire. Executive Director Doug Hall has provided invaluable support to the Children's Alliance over the years as we strive to make Kids Count a comprehensive source of reliable, accurate and timely information about New Hampshire's children.

NH Family Voices
New Hampshire Family Voices is run by parents having children with special health care needs, multiple disabilities and mental health conditions.  NHFV has a free lending library of over 1,500 titles of books, videos, and audio topes with a specialty in children's books on specific conditions and disabilities, sibling relationships, behavior and social issues.  A quarterly newsletter called "Pass It On" is free for the asking.

NH Helpline
NH Helpline is a 24-hour telephone service (800-852-3388) for New Hampshire citizens. Trained information and referral specialists provide information, referral, assistance, and crisis intervention services utilizing NH Helpline's resource database. The database, containing information from more than 6,000 social service and state agencies, is fully searchable on the Helpline Website.

New Hampshire Teen Institute
The only statewide program offering wellness-focused prevention programs for middle- and high-school youth, the New Hampshire Teen Institute trains and motivates teens to make a positive difference in their schools and communities. Founded in 1983, the Teen Institute now trains over 1,000 students annually.

Plus Time New Hampshire
AmeriCorps*VISTA members provide technical assistance to communities in their assigned county to help start or expand out-of-school time programs. Members collaborate with community members, leaders and organizations and plan for long range sustainability.


National organizations

Annie E. Casey Foundation
National sponsor of Kids Count projects throughout the country for more than a decade, the Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable foundation dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. Its primary mission is to foster public policies, human-service reforms and community supports that more-effectively meet the needs of vulnerable children and families. Annie E. Casey Foundation's site is an excellent source of information about all the Kids Count state partners.

Child Care Action Campaign
CCAC's mission is for every American Family to have "quality, affordable child care." This site provides information about child care issues, programs, resources, links, and grassroots advocacy for parents, business leaders and policy makers.

Children's Defense Fund
Perhaps the best known children's organization in the country, CDF is a research and advocacy organization that exists to provide a strong and effective voice for the children of America, who cannot vote, lobby, or speak out for themselves. CDF pays particular attention to the needs of poor, minority, and disabled children. Their goal is to educate the nation about the needs of children and encourage preventive investment in children before they get sick, drop out of school, suffer family breakdown or get into trouble.

Child Welfare League of America
CWLA is comprised of more than 1,000 public and nonprofit organizations that help more than 2.5 million abused and neglected children and their families annually with a wide variety of services. CWLA is committed to "protecting every child from harm." CWLA's comprehensive web site is a great resource in the areas of advocacy, programs, publications, and more.

Families USA: The Voice for Health Care Consumers
Families USA is a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dediated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Working at the national, state, and community levels, we have earned a national reputation as an effective voice for halth care consumers for over 20 years.

National Center for Children in Poverty: New Hampshire - Demographics of Low-Income Children The National Center for Children in Poverty provides data on Low-Income Demographics for New Hampshire's Children 2006.

Voices for America's Children
Voices for America's Children (formerly NACA) is the only national association devoted to creating and sustaining professional state and local child advocacy organizations. With 57 member organizations in 47 states and 11 cities and communities, Voices serves as the forum where child advocates from across the country convene to share ideas and exchange information. Voices establishes links between local advocates and national experts and acts as a national clearinghouse for information about effective advocacy as well as a wide array of issues impacting children. Voices' Web site has an excellent Links page that can get you to other important child advocacy sites.

News media
The news media, in the form of newspapers, television and radio (and increasingly the Internet) helps to define and change public opinion.

Rarely does the average person understand her or his power to influence what the media covers, who gets quoted, and how the story is framed. The truth is, reporters are constantly looking for fresh voices and new angles for their stories. Readers and viewers relate better to "real" people and are more likely to be inspired or encouraged to participate in a debate if they see someone like themselves doing it.

So what can you do?

If you see an article or story that is biased, unfair or incomplete, let the paper or station know you noticed -- hold them accountable. Such feedback is so rare that it can really have an impact. Politeness makes your case hard to ignore or dismiss.

If you wish someone would cover a "story" that is happening in your community, call the assignment editor at the newspaper, radio or television station and tell them why you think they should cover the story. You might be surprised to learn just how willing they are to follow up on your lead.

If the newspaper will not cover the story, write it yourself in the form of a letter to the editor or a guest editorial. Most New Hampshire papers print the letters they receive, especially if they concern a broad group of people such as parents or children. Other readers might be inspired by your letter and write or call the paper themselves, which in turn might lead to follow-up coverage by the newspaper.

Contact information for New Hampshire's newspapers and television and radio stations is found in our online Legislative Action Center. Scroll down to the News Media Guide button.