PORTSMOUTH—The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction (GLRCA) recently presented a $5,000 grant to Portsmouth based Step Up Parents in support of its mission to provide assistance to grandparents and other relatives who step up to raise children whose parents struggle with substance misuse.
 
"The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction is proud to support Step Up Parents,” said Jennifer Kelley, executive director of the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction. “They offer a unique and much needed service for caregivers that step up to care for children who find themselves without a responsible parent or a safe place to live. Their mission is totally aligned with the mission of the Children’s Auction to engage the community to financially support local children and families in need. We appreciate all the work that Step Up Parents does in our community.”     
 
With the explosion of the opioid epidemic, there are thousands of kinship families in New Hampshire and southern Maine, and parental substance misuse is the primary contributing factor. Step Up Parents provides a financial safety net for deserving kinship caregivers. There is no other organization providing this type of support the growing population of relative caregivers.
 
“The Greater Lake Region Children’s Auction is an amazing organization helping so many worthy charities over the years. We are honored for their continued support which allows us to assist deserving Lakes Region’s kinship families,” said Denyse Richter, Step Up Parents’ executive director and founder. 
 
Since its founding in 2019, Step Up Parents has helped more than 400 kinship families, impacted over 700 children, and given over $200,000 in assistance thanks to the support of generous grants like GLRCA.    
 
If you or someone you know is a relative caregiver raising children of a loved one struggling with substance misuse, please visit www.stepupparents.org, call 603-319-4739, or email info@stepupparents.org.
 
Step Up Parents relies solely on donations. To donate, please visit www.stepupparents.org/donate or mail to PO BOX 1603, Portsmouth, NH 03801.
 
About Step Up Parents
Founded in 2019 and based in Portsmouth, Step Up Parents offers financial assistance to relative caregivers in New Hampshire and York County, Maine who have selflessly stepped up to raise children whose parents struggle with substance use disorder. We are dedicated to honoring the efforts of these caregivers, preserving their dignity, and responding to their families’ immediate needs. Step Up Parent believes that “even heroes need a hand.”