City Helps Launch Community Resource Network Website and Directory

Following the pandemic, the City of Portsmouth NH created the COVID Recovery Task Force (CRTF) to work with the City Health Department to address the needs identified by local health and human service agencies among vulnerable populations most impacted by COVID-19. One of the recommendations of the CRTF was that the Community Resource Network (CRN) directory of service agencies be converted from paper to a user-friendly, online resource searchable by service need.

Late last year, the Portsmouth City Council allocated grants totaling $350,000 from City American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to 34 of the health and human service nonprofit agencies in the CRN who are serving those vulnerable populations. The City Council also voted to allocate ARPA funds to contract with Darci Creative to create a new CRN website and the online directory of health and human service agencies serving Greater Portsmouth and the region. The new website is: communityresourcenetworknh.org

The mission of the CRN is to assist its member health and human services agencies to best serve the needs of the community in eastern Rockingham County, Strafford County, and southern York County. CRN helps nonprofit staff be better informed about available resources for the people they serve. The new online directory was created to give those staff members online, cross-referenced listings to help them identify resources quickly and easily. The directory is intended primarily for health and human services agency use, however, there is information the general public may find useful.

More than 60 representatives from the dozens of health and human service agencies in the directory attended the annual CRN meeting on March 28, 2025, where the new resource was presented. Susan Turner, Community Resource Network Director who has maintained the directory for the past 25 years, joined the group in their enthusiastic support for the new capability, saying “People have been asking for this improvement in how we serve our clients, making sure we can serve our clients.” Members said they were grateful for the increased efficiency of the website compared to the paper directory they have been using.