NEW LONDON — A $1.1 million grant will help Colby-Sawyer College add more mental health practitioners to the region by doubling the size of its master of social work program.
The grant from the Burkehaven Family Foundation will increase the program’s capacity to 68 students, said Kate Turcotte, program director and professor of social work & sociology at the New London College.
In addition to supporting scholarships for the primarily online two-year program, it will allow the university to provide support like emergency childcare and money for car repairs.
“We have the means to be able to support students that have something arise in their lives that would otherwise might now allow them to be in school, stay in school, so that’s really incredible,” Turcotte said.
The program’s first cohort of six students started in 2023 and graduated in 2025. Sixteen students are on track to graduate this August and another 17 next July. A third of the program’s students are in their 20s, while the rest are older, primarily in their 30s and 40s. Almost all students work full time.
There’s also funding for students to join professional organizations, which otherwise might be cost prohibitive.
“A lot of students wouldn’t otherwise have access to that,” Turcottee said.
There will also be money set aside to help students become licensed social workers, which can often be a time intensive and expensive process.
“We know there’s a significant need for more mental health professionals across the state, especially for children, families, and other vulnerable populations,” Danyel Godwin, a Concord resident who graduated from Colby-Sawyer’s program and works as a therapist at Pine Haven Boys Center in Allenstown, wrote in an email. “The faculty genuinely invested in our success, and the program’s flexibility made it possible for me to work full time while earning my degree. That support made a tremendous difference in my education and professional growth.”
Colby-Sawyer staff also work with a variety of area organizations to find opportunities for students, including Listen Community Services, West Central Behavioral Health, Upper Valley Haven and Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital.
The college also works with The Center for Safer Communities, a Claremont-based nonprofit organization, whose executive director Pascale Graham is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work at Colby-Sawyer.
“Rural communities really struggle … it’s hard to hire mental health clinicians in our area and retain them,” Graham said in a phone interview.
Graham knows that firsthand: Even with grant funding for a social worker, the small nonprofit agency that supports survivors of domestic violence was unable to find one to add to their staff.
“We weren’t able to hire a quality applicant even though we were willing to do training and provide a competitive salary,” she said. “With the work we do, that doesn’t work.”
One of the reasons Graham is excited about Colby-Sawyer’s grant is because of its focus on supporting students who live and work in the region. “I think you’re more likely to be able to attract and retain people if they’re actually from the area,” Graham said.
