Governor Lynch today (Wednesday) received a report outlining a plan to end homelessness in the state in ten years.
The report emphasizes finding permanent housing for the chronically homeless.
But families with children are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.
Eight year old Dylan and his five year old brother Andrew sit in front of a small TV playing video games.
Their one year old brother Matthew sleeps soundly in a crib next to them, under the light of a modest Christmas tree.
Their mom, Colleen, says she’s done everything she can to try to make this two room shelter in Nashua a home for her sons.
A little over a month ago, Colleen says she was living in a three bedroom home in Hudson.
“We were very comfortable there until my son came down with Thalassemia which is a blood disorder, now we go back and forth to Boston Children’s hospital so kind of all my money has been going to gas, and the car broke down and just trying to get him back and forth to his doctors.â€
Her infant son also has a heart defect.
Eventually the medical bills just got too high.
“1186 :52 We ended up losing our home and ended up here in a shelter and you know it was very heartbreaking, but if it wasn’t for them we’d end up in the street. So we’re very luckyâ€
Colleen says even though her family has been in the shelter a short time, it’s already affecting her kids.
1189 They act out a lot now, they’re upset, very upset, they talk about the other home constantly, and are we going back, they’re confused, they don’t understand it’s tough.
The move has been most upsetting to eight year old Dylan.
“I lost my friends I don’t have a lot of people to play with, it’s not that fun, not that much fun, I only get to play with them at school.â€
Every day, nearly 1000 children go to school in New Hampshire with no home to return to at the end of the day.
Department of Education officials emphasize that number is only an estimate -- based on what some school districts report on one day.
Lynda Thistle-Elliott, the Department’s Homeless Education Program Coordinator, says the homeless children population is likely much larger.
1162 Most of our students that are homeless in New Hampshire are doubled up with other families so they’re not counted as shelter counts, where if you have a shelter in the community you readily recognize the families that are coming from the shelter.
But the numbers collected at shelters still point to an alarming trend.
Nearly one in four people who sleep in shelters is under the age of 18.
And schools are seeing the number of homeless children increase every year.
:53 when I first entered this position about eight years ago now the last count was about 230 students in homeless situations, now as of about a year ago we were approaching 1,000
Thistle-Elliott says homelessness can have a devastating impact on a child’s education.
Homeless toddlers risk lagging behind their peers developmentally.
School age kids tend to miss more school and they are twice as likely to be suspended or repeat a grade.
1168 :36 on the face some students may be doing academically okay but homeless students are at the highest risk of academic failure, so its really being aware and watchful to make sure these students at high risk have the opportunities they need to be successful.
Federal law gives homeless children certain educational rights; they can attend the school in the town where they became homeless, or where they are temporarily residing.
Schools have to provide homeless children transportation.
But school personnel never informed Colleen of those rights.
Her five year old has missed several weeks of school and eight year old Dylan is living with a relative during the day so he can attend his school in Hudson.
1192 :39 he likes Hudson so much he didn’t want to leave and my sister in law lives right down the street from where I used to live, she takes him during the week so he can finish school there, and then I take him, he sleeps here, he’s back and forth.
Colleen says she worries about how Dylan is coping.
1:22 his teacher said he’s seems depressed though but it’s not interfering with his school work, which is good.
At this point, Dylan’s lucky.
National research shows that 47-percent of homeless kids experience depression, anxiety, withdrawal or other clinical problems.
Homeless children also suffer from improper nutrition and sleep.
Colleen says before coming to the shelter she tried to find cheaper places to live.
But she and her children ended up on a friend’s living room floor.
1196 :24 the prices are just unreal, to find something comfortable enough is about a thousand dollars or more a month and that’s a lot, especially with the bills I have.
Colleen’s story is typical of what many families across New Hampshire are experiencing.
Keith Keunning is with the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness.
People have the stereotype that there are a lot of homeless people that are kind of chronically homeless but what we’re seeing more and more are people that are experiencing economic hardships that end up in the shelters for the first time, you’re closing on over 40-percent that use the shelters are first time users.
Keunning says the problem is exacerbated by housing costs - with the average price of a home now hovering around 300-thousand dollars.
He says the state’s plan to end homelessness includes trying to relieve the numbers of chronically homeless.
Although they represent 10-percent of the homeless population, getting them off the street uses up 50 to 60-percent of the state’s homeless resources.
Helping the chronically homeless would free up more money to help families like Colleen’s that may be homeless only temporarily.
Colleen is very hopeful that homelessness is only temporary – that’s what she tells her children.
1189 :34 what I just tell them is we’re going to get through this and eventually Matthew will get better and we’ll pick up where we left off, we’ll get an apartment and I’m going to finish school and do what I need to do to get a better life for them.
For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.
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