By Ben Gose
When the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, in New Hampshire, lost a federal grant that supported its arts programs five years ago, the club had to lay off its dance director and rely on intermittent volunteers. Its arts offerings became sporadic, and some teenage girls stopped coming to the club.
Last year brought another blow from a once-dependable source of funds: The local United Way cut its operating support in half, a $50,000 hit to the Boys & Girls Club’s bottom line.