For years, childcare advocates have tried to get people to understand that childcare is as critical for a healthy community and thriving economy as hospitals and fire stations. Advocates knew that when people fully understood the importance of childcare, they’d come together and work to support it.

That’s exactly what happened in Gorham.

In Gorham – a town of little over 2,500 at the base of the Presidential Mountain Range – community members came together to solve the problem. Business owners, nonprofit leaders, municipal officials and educators all saw the need for Gorham and the surrounding region to have adequate childcare services that met demand.

Director Melinda Fauteux and Assistant Director Mariah Middleton at the Gorham Community Learning Center understand the ever-present need for childcare in their community. To be able to live in Gorham, families need to work. To work, they need childcare.

The Learning Center is an integral part of the Gorham community. The success of the center affects everyone: Gorham is a small town in a close-knit area, and as Middleton says, everybody has a child at the center or knows someone who does. What started in 1978 in a church basement has been operating continuously ever since, save a 6-month stint during the pandemic.

But as other centers in the area closed and scarcity of childcare slots grew, the Learning Center struggled to fill the gap. There weren’t enough spots for the children who needed them – and there wasn’t enough space to put them.

Fauteux and Middleton realized that they needed to expand. That expansion would mean hiring more staff and moving into a new space.

So the women turned to their community. They talked to parents and neighbors. They found advocates – including Airole Warden at the Coös County Childcare Directors’ Network. They listened to what the community needed. They expanded, first, into a classroom at the local school. They got local high schoolers to volunteer after school. And when Northeast Credit union closed its Main Street branch, Fauteux and Middleton saw an opportunity for a new space. They had a vision.

What they didn’t have was experience in real estate negotiations.

But this is small-town New Hampshire. When you don’t know how to do something, you know someone who does.

With Warden’s guidance, and the help of the community and The Coös Directors Network, they started the process to buy the empty bank building. Local housing non-profit AHEAD facilitated the transaction and mortgage, and Northeast Credit Union agreed to sell its building on favorable terms. The Town of Gorham kicked in and is helping manage a community development block grant. In addition, Granite United Way and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and its Neil and Louise Tillitson Fund all provided funding for the project.

Part of what drove the collaboration was a shared understanding of the ripple effects of the childcare crisis. For example: Gorham, like many rural New Hampshire towns, desperately needs healthcare professionals. And those professionals need childcare so they can go to work.

Now, the Center is on the cusp of doubling its capacity while continuing to support community efforts for additional expansion opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Center is focused on quality care and keeping critical staff. The Learning Center offers free childcare to staff, a benefit that is a huge draw – and helps staff stay in their jobs and in the area.

When asked about what other childcare centers can do similarly, Fauteux has a simple answer. “Just talk to people,” she says. “Talking to people leads to community advocacy.”

That kind of community advocacy came together at a critical moment for this town. And that, said Airole, is not a surprise.

"That," she said, "is Gorham."