July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats

The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis is performed once a year at the beginning of our fiscal year, in July. The survey is sent out anonymously, in multiple formats to gain insight on both internal coalition strengths and weakness and external community level opportunities and threats. This information helps guides our priorities and activities for the year. "Nothing for them, without them"

Strengths

Seeing resources in Maine & NH meeting the needs of Veterans
The sharing of information and resources
Organizations and people are striving to better support SMVF
Awareness of events and resources(to complement the coalition’s efforts), the energizer bunny leader and commitment from core members
A varied network of veteran resources
A committed core group of members. A leader who is well-connected with and knowledgeable about the region

Weaknesses

Northern NH lacks a VSO, certified by the VA
Meeting times – everyone is busy & unsure how to fix that
Difficult to get everyone or many in one place at one time
Lack of active engagement from broader membership
Lack of active engagement at events from SMVF
Interfacing with the public at large
Need for a greater number of core/active members

Opportunities

The larger events planned in Northern NH and the sharing of info about the events
Newer veteran organizations invested in helping NH Veterans
Lots of great organizations trying to help SMVF
Periodic resource fairs and other events, including trainings
Connections to resources
The efforts of the coalition – resource fairs etc. Representation from/collaboration with local CBOC
Public health involvement and community partners that come with them

Threats

Communication and collaboration for those new to the group
Transportation
Siloed work and a lack of networking between civilian and military organizations
Lack of awareness of available services/activities
Rural nature of our community and lack of cohesion
As with all of NH, transportation to appointments/events
Lack of awareness of events
Siloed National Gurad Families needing more connection
Civilian organization lack of knowledge about SMVF involved with them
Need for more VSOs

Needs Assessment

Question: What kinds of barriers or gaps in services are being experienced by the SMVF population, that you are hearing or observing?

Lack of Transportation
Lack of money
Qualified Veteran Service Officers availability and knowledge
Housing
Lack of fun activities
Social Opportunities
Lack of community “center”
National Guard families connection to others for activities/peer connection

Question: What types of presentations or trainings would be useful to your organization to help serve SMVF better? Or what presentations/information do you hear SMVF asking for?

Information for SMVF’s on money management, VA benefits overview, vet resources in the community like discounts and programs.
Advocacy and policy information for SMVF – to affect change
Non-profit/organization marketing 101

Question: What types of tools or resources would be helpful in bridging any gaps or barriers for SMVF?

Learning from others in meetings and in the community
Hiring more veterans to assist veterans
A way to combine efforts between organizations.
Better ways to get information about activities and services into the SMVF hands
Finding communication pathways and activities to bring more veterans in
Transportation options
Increasing awareness of resources, maybe marketing resource guides more aggressively.

Priority Area Poll Ranking: (listed from highest priority at the top, to lowest on the bottom). Quantified by most number of single vote and next most progressive highest vote.

Connected to peers
Social Drivers of Health
Transitional Services
Connected to resources/wrap around supports
Identified as SMVF
Screened for suicide risk
Reducing access to lethal means

Priority Area Votes

Executive Summary

Carroll County Veterans Coalition (CCVC) is a veterans coalition in rural New Hampshire with a large geographic area, aging population, siloed work and a lack of many basic services. A 2026 SWOT and needs assessment revealed some new strengths and some newly evolved needs or barriers.

Iterated CCVC areas of strength were much more comprehensive than in previous years with many varied resources and efforts to support service members, veterans and their families. Highlights include a dedicated group, increase in knowledge of activities and resources and increase in resource sharing. This is in a direct line up with CCVC core objectives. Efforts to promote these strengths will be ongoing.

Iterated areas of weakness were as expected. It is difficult to find and engage coalition members all at the same time and difficult to get SMVF to attend activities. New areas of weakness include the desire for new coalition members and an increase in Northern NH VSO accessibility. We can only surmise that with greater visibility of a veterans’ coalition, as well as more people being identified as SMVF, that the need for help navigating services and benefits is increasing. Finding and engaging a core group and SMVF for activities shall become a focal area of this year.

Barriers to accessing services and gaps in care are also in line with previous years. With transportation, housing and money as top needs. Top gaps in care remain centered around the desire for activities and connections to peers. New this year is the desire for organizations to have more supportive trainings, to help them support their SMVF populations. Several topic areas were identified. After some exploring, the desired trainings have a high ROI and low-capacity need to implement. CCVC will pursue desired trainings to support the SMVF organizations.

CCVC priority areas have changed slightly. Connecting SMVF to peers rose slightly above social drivers of health this year. Other priority areas are as expected and will continue to be addressed through conversations, resource fairs, conferences and resource sharing.

Overall CCVC had a good year with new and exciting things to come. While this was an informative process, there was not many responses to help develop this needs assessment. This is indictive of the need for more engagement. As of now there is no incoming funds but there is some money left from last to use for our larger activities. We will work on the areas of need in a strategic manner within our capacity. We step forward continuously and proudly.